Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 Stoke 0

Last updated : 18 March 2003 By Footymad Previewer

Wolves kept their fans on tenterhooks with another frustrating home display when their leading marksman, Kenny Miller, sadly had an off night.

The Molineux men slumped to their eighth home draw - the highest so far recorded in the First Division this season.

The most disturbing feature of their performance was the lack of menace against a side battling for First Division survival.

Wolves made four changes from the side beaten 1-0 at Portsmouth but struggled to make an impact in the first half when Stoke staged a commendable defensive performance.

Third from bottom Stoke were intent on containing Wolves and were highly successful in the first period with Peter Handyside a key defender.

It was another frustrating display by Wolves against a team from the lower reaches and there was a great deal of anxiety on and off the field.

Their inability to dominate struggling Stoke was familiar to the home fans who have been subjected to many similar performances this season.

It was not until the closing stages of the first half that Wolves began to move menacingly forward and Alex Rae had a couple of half chances to open his account.

Significantly Rae did not trouble on loan goalkeeper Mark Crossley as Stoke held on grimly to hamper Wolves aspirations.

There was a lack of conviction and striker Miller was conspicuous by his inability to pressurise the compact Stoke defence.

Stoke relied on their lone striker Andy Cooke to test Wolves but these survival tactics did little to raise hopes of inspiring a shock away win.

Cooke's best chance came in the first minute of the first half when Wolves' defence was caught wrong-footed by Clive Clark but goalkeeper Matt Murray was alive to the situation and made a smart save.

Wolves' first shot on target in the first hour came from Lee Naylor with a speculative 30-yard drive which Crossley pushed away.

In a hectic finish Mark Kennedy had a shot blocked on the line and substitute Colin Cameron also went close to breaking the stalemate but Stoke survived to give them hope of staging a late bid to avoid relegation.