Tony Pulis admitted Stoke were disappointed not to have beaten Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday after missing a string of chances in a 1-1 draw.The Potters dominated for the first hour at Hillsborough, with a combination of good goalkeeping and poor finishing stopping Richard Cresswell from adding to his goal, and a lack of sharpness denying Shola Ameobi a debut strike.

Wednesday came into the game in the final 30 minutes, though, and as nerves kicked in and the visitors sat back, Brian Laws' side grabbed a late equaliser to extend their recent good form.

Pulis said: "We are disappointed not to have won. We had that big chance from Cresswell with a point-blank header just after half-time and if he scores there then we go on and win the game comfortably. Having said that, it was a difficult surface and the weather made it an end-to-end game.

"It was very easy for the referee to give a free-kick for (Wednesday striker Deon) Burton towards the end just outside the box but I thought we should have had a penalty but we've not really had much luck with these decisions this year."

But he was pleased with the contributions of his two new loan recruits.

"Shola Ameobi hasn't played a competitive game for long time and I thought he was a handful for the whole game," added Pulis.

"It was very difficult for him though because he got booked early on. I was also delighted with the efforts of Stephen Pearson. He hasn't trained for two weeks."

The match also marked Glenn Whelan's first return to Hillsborough since leaving the club he helped win promotion in 2005.

The Irishman felt a draw was probably a fair result.

He said: "We played well in the first half, creating a few chances but Wednesday came back well in the second half and got their goal.

"I always look out for Wednesday's results. It's the first one I look out for when I get back in the dressing room.

"I loved my time with the club and hopefully they will get themselves out of danger at the bottom."

Meanwhile Brian Laws took plenty of encouragement from what was a vital point in the Owls' bid to avoid the drop from the Championship.

On-loan winger Franck Songo'o scored the Owls' equaliser with 10 minutes remaining after he latched onto a fine through-ball by substitute Jermaine Johnson.

However Wednesday could be in trouble with the Football Association after it emerged Songo'o was one of six loan players in their matchday 16, with rules stating a maximum of five is allowed. Ironically Stoke were forced to leave on-loan Paul Gallagher out of their squad because of the rule.

Owls boss Laws said of the game: "We are obviously delighted to have got a point out of it. If they can continue to play in the same vein - that's one defeat in nine - then we'll get out of it.

"I thought there was fortune on Stoke's side with the free-kick for Cresswell's goal. The way that they took it very quickly with the help of Tony Pulis' right boot. He kicked the ball back onto the pitch and was quite accurate. It's what you call quick thinking and a bit of quality from the manager.

"Tuesday's game against Coventry is going to be even more important and it could be the night that we get out of the bottom three. I feel we are getting closer and closer."

On the downside for the Owls, Richard Hinds is rated doubtful for the midweek visit of the Sky Blues after coming off with an ankle injury.

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