Sheffield Wednesday 0-0 Stoke City: Only two shots on target in poor game
- Published
Sheffield Wednesday and Stoke struggled to break each other down at Hillsborough
Sheffield Wednesday remained second from bottom in the Championship after a lacklustre scoreless draw at home to Stoke.
Wednesday, still seeking their first victory under former Potters boss Tony Pulis, were unable to break down the visitors in a game of few chances.
Stoke - whose previous four games had witnessed 20 goals - were unusually shot-shy, although substitute Sam Vokes belatedly forced home goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith into action.
The Potters missed the chance to move into the play-off places and are eighth in the table.
There were limited scoring opportunities during a drab first half, with Wednesday's five-man defence holding firm to blunt the Stoke forward line.
Owls midfielder Kadeem Harris went closest to breaking the deadlock as he grazed the post with a left-foot drive and then drilled a half-volley through a crowd of players, with Jon Obi Mikel blocking it on the line.
Pulis sent on Jordan Rhodes to provide support for Callum Paterson in the second half, but Wednesday still failed to muster a serious attempt on target.
Wildsmith was the busier of the two keepers as the game dragged on, denying Tyrese Campbell before saving a low attempt from Vokes with his legs late on.
Sheffield Wednesday boss Tony Pulis told BBC Radio Sheffield:
"The players' attitude to having a go has been absolutely first class and today we were solid against a very good side, but we're short in areas we need to address.
"You need quality off set-plays and people who want to score from set-plays but you also need people who can sniff that goal out for you.
"Barry (Bannan) was the only one who really settled us down when he got on the ball. To win games, you've got to have it at both ends - you can't just have it at one end."
Stoke manager Michael O'Neill told BBC Radio Stoke:
"We're relatively happy to take away a point. We would have preferred three - that was our intention when we came here.
"But, when you look at the nature of the game, there were few chances. I think the back four played very well, we defended a lot of what they threw at us.
"Sheffield Wednesday played deep, they made it difficult for us to break them down and I didn't think it was a game we ever looked like losing, but we couldn't find that little bit of quality to win it."