Newcastle became the fourth Premier League side of the day to be forced into an FA Cup third round replay after they drew 0-0 with Stoke at the Britannia Stadium.

The pressure on Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce will not have abated after the Championship side outplayed their top flight counterparts for much of the game.

In front of a vocal and partisan crowd in the rain-drenched Potteries, the two sides - separated by just 13 places in the league - both made high tempo starts.

Play went from end-to-end but there were few clear-cut chances for either side.

Charles N'Zogbia enjoyed plenty of freedom on the left flank and created some opportunities but could do no better than fire a shot straight at Steve Simonsen.

Defender Leon Cort had a clear sight at goal from a Liam Lawrence cornerbut he failed to steer his header on target.

After half-time the heavy rain that had been falling all evening started to make the pitch very slippery and the match began to open up as mistakes started to be made.

The match really went up a gear on 55 minutes when a N'Zogbia free-kick found Steven Taylor at the far post. The defender got a head to it before crashing back-first into the post. Simonsen palmed the header away and was well off his line as Damien Duff hooked the ball back across goal. All it needed was a touch but no one from either side could apply one and the ball was eventually cleared.

Despite that chance, Stoke emerged as the side to dominate much of the play for the rest of the match and when Jon Parkin came on for the impressive Mamady Sidibe, he almost scored with his first touch.

Ricardo Fuller managed to hold off Taylor as he entered the penalty area but was forced wide by goalkeeper Shay Given. The Jamaican pulled the ball back from the byline and Parkin struck a shot from close range only to see it deflect off Abdoulaye Faye and wide.

Moments later another cross found Richard Cresswell and Given saved the mid-air volley from almost point blank range.

Newcastle almost nicked it at the death when substitute Andy Carroll hit the outside of the post from a tight angle but Stoke held on to book a date at St James' Park.

Tony Mabert / Eurosport