Pulis hails vital point

Tony Pulis hailed a vital point after watching his Stoke side hold Blackburn to a goalless stalemate at Ewood Park.

The Potters had keeper Thomas Sorensen to thank after he produced outstanding saves to deny Franco Di Santo in the first-half and Ryan Nelsen after the interval.

Steven N'Zonzi's shot hit the post and Christopher Samba missed with a header in stoppage time as Rovers could not find the opening.

But Stoke could have won it themselves as Dean Whitehead spurned two good chances, while substitute James Beattie shot over from close range.

Pulis told Sky Sports: "It was pretty end to end at times, I think both sides had really, really good chances, unfortunately for us we never took ours."

But the Stoke boss was keen to highlight the positives.

Good things

He added: "There was a lot of good things that came out of the game today for us - yes we can defend a little bit better at times but going forward, I always thought we were a threat today."

He singled Sorensen out for praise, saying: "He has made a couple of really, really good saves and I think Thomas on his day is as good as anything in the league.

"That's our second clean sheet (in a row) and that bodes well as well."

Pulis hailed another point as the Potters push to stay in the top flight for a second season.

He said: "The most important thing is you keep picking points up and I think we have improved as a team, I think we are a bit stronger, we are certainly a lot more cagey away from home than what we were last year. I think the record shows it.

"And like I say, we have given ourselves at times a chance to win this game today.

"It is difficult coming to Blackburn - you know what to expect and they do it really, really well and you know, I think they have won five on the bounce (at Ewood) so it's a good result for us."