Stoke City 0-0 Reading: Potters stay in Championship relegation zone

Stoke City and Reading both failed to register a shot on target in their goalless Championship stalemate.

Potters winger Tom Ince came closest to a winner, sending an effort just off target from 25 yards before half-time.

The former Derby and Huddersfield player also had a first-half goal ruled out for offside and curled a late attempt wide.

Stoke's first draw in seven games under Michael O'Neill kept them in the bottom three, five points below the Royals.

Reading, whose manager Mark Bowen spent four and a half years as Mark Hughes' assistant at Stoke, have now only won one of their past six league matches, but are undefeated in their past three games away from home.

Visiting centre-back Michael Morrison had an early attempt blocked from a corner but, despite drawing a blank up front, they rarely looked in danger of being beaten.

Stoke manager Michael O'Neill told BBC Radio Stoke:

"It was frustrating. We had decent opportunities in the first half of the game where we could have taken more care with the final finish or the final pass.

"In the second half both teams cancelled themselves out a little bit and we were probably relying on something individual to win the game.

"I don't think it was a game we looked in danger of losing, but unfortunately we possibly didn't show enough quality to win it."

Reading manager Mark Bowen told BBC Radio Berkshire:

"We were much better with our performance. Some harsh words were said after the Barnsley game (on Wednesday).

"Coming to any away ground is difficult, but we were able to control our destiny a little bit better because we were in more control of the game. That's one of the reasons I changed the system, to try to get an extra body in midfield and we did that.

"If there's a criticism, we didn't create too much in terms of clear chances for our strikers."