It's a night of disappointment for the Sky Blues at the Britannia Stadium as City were undone by a wonder-strike from Stoke defender Andy Griffin.

The Stoke defender looked to be no danger as he picked up the ball 30 yards from goal but his unstoppable shot found the top corner and left Andy Marshall with no chance, before the hosts were reduced to 10 men as Ricardo Fuller was shown red for an elbow.

Micky Adams made two changes from the side that slipped to a narrow 1-0 defeat against Birmingham at the Ricoh last Tuesday for this evening's clash.

In came midfielder and former Port Vale man Chris Birchall and the on-loan Clive Clarke with Colin Cameron and Kevin Kyle missing from the first 11.

Those changes saw the Sky Blues adopt an attacking three-four-three formation with Birchall - who will no doubt be in for a hot reception - deployed just behind the front two of Leon McKenzie and Stern John.

It was the Sky Blues who made the best of the opening exchanges with Birchall and McKenzie forcing corners in the first 60 seconds to send out a signal of intent to the home side.

Andy Marshall was called into his first piece of action with three minutes on the clock as he was able to pluck a Lee Hendrie corner out of the air unopposed.

As the fog continued to thicken over the Britannia City were showing no signs of fear, keeping the potentially dangerous midfield of Hendrie and Darel Russell quiet.

On 17 Robert Page was forced into a last-ditch tackle with Ricardo Fuller looking destined to give the Potters the lead.

The former Preston and Southampton forward surged down the right and into the box before shaping to shoot only for Pagey to make a perfect challenge.

Just two minutes later Stern John fired wide with the goal at his mercy as the game was staring to open up into a lively clash.

With the half-hour fast approaching Fuller was again causing problems, finding space in the box to meet a Carl Hoefkens centre before slipping and then slicing the ball high over the bar

With 35 gone former Stoke man Hall did well to acrobatically block another Fuller effort, the powerful striker doing well to find space before unleashing a well hit shot.

Mamady Sidibe was next to threaten for Tony Pulis' side, cutting in from the right he had options in the box but instead opted to go for glory smashing the ball high and wide.

With seven minutes of the second half gone Elliott Ward did well to help his 'keeper out, heading clear from almost underneath his own bar from a looping Luke Chadwick header.

Michael Doyle - who scored his first goal for 18 months against Colchester recently - tried his luck from all of 25 yards with 55 gone but his low shot was watched wide by Stoke 'keeper Steve Simonsen.

Just as Micky Adams was preparing to throw on Jay Tabb Andy Griffin found the top corner with a rising, rasping goal-of-the-season contender from what must have been 30 yards out leaving Marshall absolutely no chance.

With the home fans celebrating the gaffer did make the change with Birchall coming off for former Brentford man Tabb on the hour mark.

It was almost made even worse for the Sky Blues as Hoefkens rattled the bar before Stoke striker Fuller was red carded for what referee Boyeson seemed to suggest was a stray elbow on Hughes.

Having been on the pitch for just seven minutes Tabb was certainly making an impact and was unlucky not

to find an equalizer for the Sky Blues, his half-volley flying straight at Simonsen from a tight angle.

With the home side reduced to 10 men and with City searching for an equalizer Micky made his second switch of the night with Dele Adebola taking the place of Doyle with 20 minutes remaining.

The experienced Don Huthison entered the action in place of Hall for City's last switch of the night to give Micky Adams' men added impetus in the centre of the park.

Marshall made a fantastic save from Pericard in the dying moments as he broke free before McKenzie had appeared to hand City a share of the spoils.

The former Norwich man met a Page header and nodded into the back-of-the-net only to be denied by the linesman's flag to leave City empty-handed.

CITY
Marshall; Hall (Hutchsion 81); Page; Ward; Hughes; Doyle (Adebola 70); Birchall (Tabb 60); John; McKenzie; Duffy; Clarke. SUBS (not used): Andrews; Cameron.

Bookings: John (42), McKenzie (51), Page (76), Hall (76), Ward (84)

STOKE
Simonsen; Griffin; Higginbotham; Duberry; Hoefkens; Diao; Hendrie; Russell; Chadwick (Brammer 85); Sidibe (Pericard 90); Fuller (s/o 62). SUBS (not used): Bangoura; Pericard; Wilkinson; Sweeney.

Bookings: Fuller sent off (62)

Att: 19,055