On the whole it was a good display by the Potters but once again we were denied in the closing minutes, this time by an equaliser from the penalty spot following a stupid and lazy challenge by Danny Collins.

Stoke lined up with Huth at right back, Wilkinson missing out because of food poisoning, as Pulis reverted to his preferred 4-4-1-1 formation. There was no place for Lawrence and a recall to Etherington and Fuller as Stoke looked to gain their first away win of the season. I was watching Huth carefully as my fear was that following last weeks excellent display at the back, Pulis would try and accommodate all 3 into a 4 man defence, he got his chance and the big German did brilliantly.

Stoke had much of the play and as the minutes wore on the Bolton faithful started to get on their team's back which will have been exactly as Pulis wanted. Fuller went down cheaply in hope of a penalty and was duly booked, I guess you could say it was a dive but it is clearly something that all Striker's do up and down the land as he left his foot in waiting for contact from the Defender. This was the highlight of the half as Stoke edged possession and went in at half time the happier side.

Stoke were quick out of the blocks in the second half and 10 minutes in were nearly undone by a ball straight down the middle where Taylor out-muscled Collins to get a shot in, had it been his left foot, the story could have been very different. Only a few minutes later Fuller won a flick on and Kitson did brilliantly to turn the Defender to slot in an exquisite finish just inside the post on his right foot, 1-0 Stoke. It's great to see Kitson in the goals and his unselfish and industrious play on the day paid off and he really took his chance well, he looked so much more confident and hopefully that is one of many more to come..

The rest of the game saw Stoke sit back as we tend to do on a lead and Bolton started getting some good possession in the middle and down the left side with Gardener in particular seeing far too much of the ball. Pulis responded by bringing on Danny Pugh to get an extra body in midfield and once again took off Dave Kitson, which was perhaps hard on the player and by doing so invited even more pressure onto a tiring side with Bolton enjoying the Lion's share of possession. We looked to be holding out for a deserved 3 points until Collins made a stupid and rash tackle (if you can call it that) giving away a poor penalty; the culmination of a poor day for the former Sunderland man, I can only rant to myself that Higgy would never have done that and would have stood up and seen the ball out of play, I expect him to be back in at Left Back for the visit of Man Utd; Taylor duly scored and Stoke once more faced late heartbreak with the game ending 1-1.

Player Ratings

Sorensen - 8
Huth - 8
Shawcross - 7
Faye - 7
Collins - 5
Delap - 6
Whelan - 6
Whitehead - 5
Etherington - 7
Kitson - 9 (Man of the Match)
Fuller - 7

Subs

Lawrence - 6.5
Pugh - 7
Beattie - Not on long enough

A deserved MOTM award for Kitson who was every inch the target man we so love to employ, he won most of his headers and held the ball up magnificently, a truly changed man.

Special mention goes to an assured and confident performance by Robert Huth at Right Back, I have a sneaky feeling that Wilkinson won't simply be walking back into the side once he gets himself out of his bathroom..

Also a mention for a poor performance from Whitehead and Collins, two recent signings who were less than convincing in their respective positions. Whitehead can run all day but his use of the ball is limited and it showed today. As for Collins, whilst he looked comfortable on the ball, more so than Higgy, his defending was poor, he lost a number of headers and was beaten by his man on more than one occasion, at one point turned with ease on the right by the left footed Taylor who got in a good cross.

No doubt the Man Utd game will be a backs to the wall affair, I don't think we will see the return of a 5 man defence but I feel that Huth will keep his place at Right Back and Higgy will come back into the side and it remains to be seen on whether Pulis will realise that Tuncay IS actually available for selection, though this 'bodies on the line' type of match might not be the best one for him as he showed with his cameo against Chelsea.

Still, he might get a game against Blackpool?