Stoke guilty of wastefulness

Robert Bozenik puffed out his cheeks and looked to the heavens as he pulled a bib over his head and slumped down into his seat in the dugout.

His last touch of the game should have given Stoke the lead but he missed a brilliant chance before being replaced and Middlesbrough escaped with their unbeaten record intact.

He wasn't the only one guilty of wastefulness in an otherwise brilliant second-half performance from Stoke City.

Tomas Rigo should have scored having had time to take a touch inside the box but saw his effort saved while Sorba Thomas, Eric Bocat and Ben Wilmot all went close.

This was the second game in four days in which Stoke had to settle for a draw when they might - and possibly should - have won, but the positives coming out of both games far outweigh the negatives.

Middlesbrough could have had a penalty in the first half and had chances of their own but they are top of the league, unbeaten, were at home and still clinging on for most of the second period.

Goals will come if Stoke continue to play and create as they have done since an underwhelming performance at QPR proved to be a blip rather than a new normal.

It looks like they have far too much quality in attack not to convert a higher percentage of those chances as the weeks go on.

This game also allowed Ashley Phillips, Lamine Cisse and Bozenik to come into the side and Bocat to get valuable game time - and the depth of the squad looks decent.

On this evidence Cisse will need time to adapt to the pace of the Championship, but a team showing five changes from the game with Norwich was competitive enough, even before half time, against as good an opposition as the division has to offer.

None of Stoke's next four opponents are higher than 11th in the table, so on the face of it, similar performances to the past two over that run of fixtures should yield a good haul of points.