THIS was not, in any sense of the term, a classic. Some scoreless draws belie the quality and entertainment that lies beneath, some do exactly what they say on the tin. This game fell into the latter category.

Not that Fulham boss Roy Hodgson had any cause for complaint. His side, previously considered the softest of touches away from home, are becoming difficult to beat, having recently chiselled out identical results at Anfield and Villa Park.

On those occasions, Fulham’s ambitions were strictly limited to venturing only occasionally into the opposition half. Against Stoke, they showed commendably more adventure and might have pinched a win with a little more quality in front of goal.

“When you play as well as we did, you have to be disappointed when you don’t win the game,” said Hodgson, whose side have now lost once in 10 matches — and that to an 88th-minute goal at Everton last month. “One defeat in the last 10 games is an excellent record and we have every right to be proud of it. Against Liverpool and Aston Villa we had to fight to get the draw, while here I thought it was a question of whether we could score.

“It’s always tough coming to Stoke, but we coped with their attacking problems well and caused them problems with our attack. Overall, I feel we should be leaving with three points instead of just the one.”

Stoke, weakened beforehand by the loss of defender Andy Griffin and midfielder Salif Diao, were not helped when they were forced to reshuffle after Mamady Sidibe was stretchered off after just two minutes.

The Stoke manager, Tony Pulis, said: “It’s been a difficult week for us. We lost two key players beforehand and then Mama, who is very important to us because he takes a lot of the pressure off Ricardo Fuller.

“But I can’t fault the attitude and commitment of the players and I’m pleased with the way the season is going overall.”

Stoke now have 20 points, two more than they achieved in the whole of their last season in top-flight football, all of 23 years ago.

It could have been 22 points, had not Sidibe’s replacement, Richard Cresswell, wasted their best chance five minutes before half-time. Cresswell was handed a clear sight of goal after a neat interchange of passes with Fuller but could only curl his shot wide from 12 yards.

Of more concern to the Stoke manager might be the expected extended absence of Rory Delap’s productive long throw. Delap tweaked an existing shoulder injury when he tried to launch one of his feared projectiles early on in the game and that weapon, at least, is not likely to trouble Premier League defences again this side of Christmas.

Not so good news for opponents is that in Ibrahim Sonko, Stoke have an effective deputy. One of his long throws had to be touched around the post by Mark Schwarzer.

Fulham had plenty of possession without seriously testing Thomas Sorensen before the interval, although they had two penalty shouts ignored by referee Stuart Attwell when Andy Johnson was barged over by Glenn Whelan and a Danny Murphy cross appeared to hit Danny Higginbotham on the hand.

Both teams kept pressing for victory but just didn’t have the required quality when it mattered.

Clint Dempsey and Simon Davies missed late chances for Fulham, while substitute Vincent Pericard slashed a shot wide for Stoke.

Star man: Jimmy Bullard (Fulham)

Yellow cards: Fulham: Gera

Referee: S Attwell

Attendance: 25,287

STOKE CITY: Sorensen 6, Wilkinson 6, Abdoulaye Faye 6, Sonko 6, Higginbotham 6, Delap 5 (Tonge 61min, 6), Amdy Faye 6, Whelan 6, Pugh 6 (Pericard 69min, 6) Sidibe (Cresswell 4min, 6), Fuller 7.

FULHAM: Schwarzer 6, Pantsil 6, Hangeland 7, Hughes 7, Konchesky 6, Davies 6, Bullard 8, Murphy 7, Gera 6, Dempsey 7, Johnson 6.