"They've [Bristol City] changed shape today. They've come for a difficult game and then the weather made it doubly so"

Mark Robins was left slightly disappointed by the fact that his Stoke City side opted to take up safe attacking positions in their draw with Bristol City, but credited the Reds for creating a "difficult game."

The Potters dropped points at home for only the third time this season as they played out a 0-0 draw with City on Saturday afternoon. In a game of few chances at the bet365 Stadium, neither side managed to produce the moment of quality needed to snatch the win.

Stoke goalkeeper Viktor Johansson didn't have a save to make in the contest, as the Robins failed to muster a single shot on target over the course of the 90 minutes. At the other end, the hosts only managed to force a single stop out of City's Brad Collins, who was making his Reds debut.

OPINION

OPINION

The former Coventry stopper's only intervention in the miserable conditions came in the 84th minute, when he denied Ben Wilmot from incredibly close range following a corner.

While the Potters had the bulk of possession and the greater number of chances, Robins felt his players could have done more to make the most of their periodic dominance, even if he could concede that City's change in shape - and the weather - made life difficult for Stoke.

"Did anybody enjoy it?" the Potters boss replied when asked for his assessment of the contest. "It was just really difficult. I can't be too critical, and I don't want to be, because I don't think it's warranted.

"I think we've tried to do everything we could to get a goal. But also, I didn't think we were good enough. We're moving in different areas; it becomes a bit samey, and we don't learn from that. Now, they've changed shape today, they've come for a difficult game, and then the weather made it doubly so.

"We had a good chance early on with Lamine getting through, and for whatever reason, the wind had obviously blown that back onto his foot. He's got to try and take it out of his feet to score. He's in; he's on the other side of the defence, he's through, and he is sort of a little bit hit or miss in terms of his finishing at the minute, but we know what he's capable of.

"We've tried everything, but we've been in positions where we've taken a safe position to get on the ball rather than something where we can be a little bit more incisive," Robins continued. "That's the only sort of slight disappointment; it's not a criticism, it's just a disappointment.

"It's just where we're at, but when a team comes and sits like that - it's the first time they've done it, a team - I think we've got to take some learning from it about where we need to be positioned on the pitch."

On City's display, the Stoke head coach concluded, "To be fair to them, they've thrown bodies in front when they've needed to, and we didn't manage to get the winning goal. But - like you said at the start - if you can't win, don't lose.

"It was a tough game because of the conditions and because of how they came and approached it."

Despite the slight sense of frustration following Saturday's stalemate, Stoke still find themselves ninth in the Championship and outside the play-off places on goal difference alone after 12 matches.

The Potters will have the chance to climb back into the top eight this weekend, when they host Preston North End, who have had a difficult start to the season. After that, they travel to Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth before the international break.

For Michael Skubala's side, the next chance to get back to winning ways will come against Bolton Wanderers this Saturday. After their trip to the Toughsheet Community Stadium, the Reds have back-to-back home games against Wolves and Norwich City on their agenda.