Ghana defender, John Paintsil has denied reports that claim he admitted to being given a hefty bonus by Fulham after helping the club keep a clean-sheet against Manchester United.

The reports appeared in a local football newspaper, quoting Paintsil as saying he had received a £10,000 bonus for keeping Cristiano Ronaldo and his United team-mates quiet in their recent 2-0 league win.

The former West Ham defender has now rubbished those claims and even stated that the quotes were made up.

Rather than getting wrapped up in legal wrangling over the incident the Ghana international prefers to concentrate on helping the Cottagers achieve their highest ever Premier League finish.

"I can tell you categorically that I never said anything of the sort," Paintsil told the club's official website.

"It's a completely ridiculous story and I am very unhappy that a newspaper has made up quotes and attributed them to me.

"Whilst on international duty I spoke of how proud I was about the win against United, but I did not once say that I had received any money from the game, these quotes are rubbish and I'm very angry that these lies have appeared.

"This nonsense will not distract me from my primary target which is helping the club record its highest ever league finish. I am determined to make it happen.

"It has been a great season so far and after beating Bolton and Manchester City away from home we've put ourselves in a really strong position.

"We've got to take it one game at a time, starting with a very tough game against Stoke at the Cottage this weekend and that's what I would rather focus on."