I can only imagine Stoke want to get in that dressing room and regroup. 

It's been a average to poor half for the Potters.

Bournemouth may feel aggrieved they only lead by one so far after a sure-fire penalty was denied. 

It's been a pretty feisty match so far. A red card looking likely if it keeps on at this pace. 

The ref's book is filling up pretty quickly, the latest name added is Dan Gosling for, let's call it 'voicing his opinion'... 

A corner to Stoke leads to two chances, the second - a header from Shawcross - is brilliantly cleared off the line by Steve Cook. 

That is the home side's first attempt on target so far - 41 minutes in.

Joe Allenmeets Phil Bardsley's cross and is brought down on the edge of the area by Harry Arter - who earns himself a yellow card. 

Still not going well for Stoke though as Xherdan Shaqiri's free-kick from the 'D' is awful. Flies straight over the bar. 

Stoke are finding it hard to keep the ball at the moment with Bournemouth in total control. 

Wilfried Bony's high knee goes flailing into the back of Nathan Ake's head - nothing sinister but must have been a wee bit painful.. 

He looks OK though. Bony is shown a yellow.

Joe Allen gets a yellow card for a foul - he is suspended for next weekend's game with Watford. 

Bournemouth looking confident after that appeal was denied. A great opportunity for Joshua King produces a fine save from Grant. 

Callum Wilson and the Bournemouth bench are up in arms asking why he has been denied a penalty - Ryan Shawcross' tackle in the area totally missed the ball. 

Should have been a pen. 

An early pass from Jack Wilshere for Callum Wilson is flagged offside - a replay shows he is on. 

Stoke winning a few early duels but nothing between the two teams in the opening moments. 

After a couple of false starts, we are under way.

Image source, BBC/Getty

...something he last did in February 2014 (a run of eight in total for Arsenal).  

Can he make it through a fourth?

Teams are in the tunnel - not long to kick off. 

Stoke have picked up 11 points since the start of October, with only Chelsea (15) and Liverpool (13) collecting more than them in that time.

By contrast, Bournemouth, (playing in blue today)are winless in their last seven away Premier League games (D2 L5), since beating Aston Villa in April.

Most of the crowd here today are in their thick coats and bobble hats. 

A chilly stadium at the best of times, the Bet 365. 

Joe Allen has had a hand in six goals in 11 Premier League appearances for Stoke (four goals, two assists) - more than he managed in 91 top-flight games for Liverpool (four goals, one assist).  

Image source, Getty Images

Potters manager Mark Hughes spoke of the Welshman's form in his pre-match news conference.

"He's having a great start to his career here. He's on a good contract, a long contract from my point of view, so that's great.

"Joe needed to play week in week out to show exactly what type of player he is and what quality he has as a player. He was limited in terms of game time at Liverpool and that was the motivation for him.

"He wanted to play week-in, week-out. He needed to find the right club to flourish and prosper and that's what he's found here."

Image source, Get

Stoke have won four of their last five games against Bournemouth, including the last three and Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe recognises the challenge ahead.

"We've been frustrated in the past two games, we've had enough chances to win several games and for whatever reason that hasn't happened. It's up to us to put that right.

"Stoke is a different place to go nowadays than it once was. They've got some very good technical players now, especially up front they're very gifted.

"It's not the test it was, but it's probably harder now because of those technical players."

SAM (Sports Analytics Machine) is a super-computer created by Professor Ian McHale, external at the University of Salford that is used to predict the outcome of football matches.

SAM has crunched the numbers for Stoke v Bournemouth...

Here you go:

Most probable score: 1-1

Probability of draw: 26% 

Probability of home win: 49%

Probability of away win: 25% 

But because I'm a rebel, I'm going Stoke 0-1 Bournemouth. 

But why not pit your predictions against your mates here. 

Image source, BBC Sport

Bournemouth have made a late decision to leave out Artur Boruc after he failed a late fitness test, while Jordon Ibe also misses out through illness. 

Bournemouth XI: Federici, Ake, Francis, Cook, Daniels, Gosling, Arter, King, Wilshire, Stanislas, Wilson.