Ryan Shawcross has revealed that Aaron Ramsey has yet to respond to any of his attempts to make contact in the wake of the challenge that left the Arsenal midfielder with a fractured tibia and fibula last month. The Stoke City defender, who hopes to overcome a minor ankle injury to make his first appearance since the Arsenal fixture when Tottenham visit the Britannia Stadium tomorrow, has sent text messages and also tried to speak to Ramsey, but without success.

Shawcross said he was not disappointed that Ramsey has shunned his attempts to get in touch and admitted "there is a lot of emotion going on" after a tackle that has left the Wales international facing nine months on the sidelines. Ramsey has started a lengthy rehabilitation programme and Shawcross said focusing all his energies on returning to fitness is a good enough reason to ignore the calls and messages.

"I have made efforts, I've left him messages and a text, and nothing has been returned but that's up to Aaron," Shawcross said, speaking publicly for the first time about the incident. "Will I see him? I might do in the future but it's totally up to Aaron. I haven't spoken to him. It's up to him whether he gets back to me, there is a lot of emotion going on and he's probably trying to concentrate on having his rehab done and that's fair enough."

Arsène Wenger was heavily critical of Shawcross, accusing the central defender of a horrendous and unacceptable challenge. Shawcross, however, maintains there was no bad intent and said for that reason he has not been tormenting himself about the moment he collided with Ramsey's right leg and left the teenager writhing in agony.

"I think if you ask any professional playing football, he doesn't go out to injure another player," Shawcross said. "The incident, I just got there a tiny bit late and missed the ball and this is when injuries happen. It probably happens five or six times in a game and some people never get injured. If I knew I had gone out to hurt somebody then obviously I would have sleepless nights, but I know I went out not trying to harm anyone."

Shawcross said the support he has received from within football has helped him deal with the fall-out from the incident, which happened less than an hour before he was called up to the England squad for the first time. Steven Gerrard sent a text message saying "he knew it was an honest tackle and that I was welcome in the squad" and Sir Alex Ferguson made a personal call while Manchester United were celebrating their Carling Cup triumph in the background.

Shawcross revealed that he has watched the challenge again, although not through choice. "When we sit down for England meals we always have the news on in the background and obviously for the next three or four days every single headline was about me making a tackle. So I've seen it in slow-mo, fast, everything. It was just an unfortunate accident. I just wish Aaron all the best and hopefully he gets back to being the fantastic player he was."

It would not be surprising if Shawcross felt a little uneasy about stepping back onto the pitch again against Spurs but he insisted there are no psychological battles to overcome. "I'm quite a strong character. In my training I've been back to normal. I've been making hard tackles and that's the way I play. If I changed that I wouldn't be the same footballer. That's the way I'm going to carry on playing and hopefully I can do well again."