Angry Stoke boss Tony Pulis blasted referee Mike Pike after his late arrival forced the kick-off against Blackpool to be delayed by 30 minutes.Leon Cort grabbed a late equaliser to earn a 1-1 draw that kept Stoke on top of the Championship after Ben Burgess had fired Blackpool ahead but afterwards Pulis vented his frustration at Pike.

The Blackpool team coach was also caught up in the heavy traffic after a serious accident on the M6 caused miles of tailbacks.

But Pulis believed Pike, who lives in Cumbria, should have stayed in Stoke on Friday night to make sure he was at the ground in good time.

He said: "It's a serious lack of professionalism by the referee and I'm amazed. He should have used his expenses and stayed here overnight.

"He chose to travel down the busiest road in the country on the day of the game during a holiday period. Astonishing.

"I had to drag my players in from the warm up, we were all sitting around for half an hour, and then I had to send them out again."

Pulis' anger was no doubt magnified by the fact his team missed the chance to pull three points clear at the top of the Championship.

But he said: "We are still in a very strong position and our fate remains in our hands. Blackpool are a decent side and, as I've said many times before, anyone can beat anyone in this division."

Stoke did try to take advantage of Blackpool's late arrival, with Salif Diao going close before Mamady Sidibe headed Paul Gallagher's fifth minute free-kick against a post.

But the visitors gradually recovered from their tough journey and Stoke's fast start as Claus Jorgensen and Burgess both tested home 'keeper Carlo Nash.

And it was Burgess who made the breakthrough in the 37th minute, collecting a short pass from Steve McPhee to strike a shot which deflected off home defender Cort to leave Nash stranded.

Ian Evatt was inches away from adding a second on the stroke of half-time and Stoke left the field with the boos of many home fans ringing in their ears.

Pulis' side gained the perfect tonic less than two minutes later when Burgess undid his good work by handing Stoke their equaliser on a plate. The lofty striker headed Gallagher's corner straight into the path of Cort who smuggled his six-yard shot past Paul Rachubka, despite failing to make a sweet contact.

Blackpool, to their credit, did not flinch and they came close to retaking the lead when Steve McPhee's header was clutched low down by the diving Nash.

And Stoke never seriously threatened a winner until stoppage time, when Sidibe had a header cleared off the line by Jorgensen.

Blackpool boss Simon Grayson said: "We were here and prepared for a 3pm kick-off, but it was us who eventually got the delay.

"One of our officials contacted the Football League to ask the question. I don't know who actually made the decision, but the answer we got was we could kick off at 3.30pm.

"I could understand Stoke's frustration, but we started off from Blackpool at 10am for a 75-minute journey and it took over four hours to get here.

"I had to do my team talk on the coach, the players ate some toast and bits of chicken in the dressing room, then we had to get on with it.

"I told them I wouldn't accept our problems as an excuse for a poor performance and they rallied to the call. It was a very good point and we could have got all three."

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