Marlon King's goal on the stroke of half time wasn't enough for the Tigers as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.

King's effort had given his side the lead but Ricardo Fuller's second half penalty meant the points were shared.

Phil Brown made one change to his starting line-up with Nick Barmby coming in for Daniel Cousin who dropped to the bench.

Bernard Mendy came back into the squad to take the place of Nathan Doyle on the bench, but there was no return for Caleb Folan following recent knee trouble.

Dean Marney started in midfield to make his 100th appearance for the Tigers.

Barmby and Geovanni were the men employed to support ront man Marlon King.

With fog lingering, City played in their grey away strip and were soon called upon to defend a corner, but Tom Soares curled his delivery out of play.

Rory Delap's first opportunity to hurl a long throw into the box came in the ninth minute, but City dealt with it well enough, Ian Ashbee heading the ball out of the box.

City won their first corner on 16 minutes when King's shot was deflected wide.

Marney produced a great ball, but the referee awarded a free kick to Stoke for pushing.

Amdy Faye's foul on Geovanni gave City the opportunity to put a free kick into the box in the 25th minute.

Marney's ball in found Barmby beyond the far post, but he couldn't head home with the Stoke keeper out of position.

Some careless play between George Boateng and Sam Ricketts gifted Stoke possession on the edge of City's box, but when the ball was played in Ricardo Fuller could only stab a shot wide.

Despite being on the bench, Dean Windass managed to get involved in the action by warming up directly in front of Delap as he prepared to take a long throw.

Despite his best attempts to look innocent, he was promptly 'moved along'.

From the throw, Fuller's flick was held by Boaz Myhill - who had a loan spell at Stoke in the 2001-02 season - at his near post.

The next time Windass performed his 'act' shortly before half time he was booked.

The Tigers took the lead in added time at the end of the first half after Marney had been fouled out wide.

Ricketts delivered and when the ball fell to King from Marney's header, he turned and produced a smart finish into the top corner from 12 yards.

It was the last action of the first half and although it might have been slightly against the run of play, City went into the break the happier of the two sides.

Half Time: Tigers 1-0 Stoke

Stoke were almost level within two minutes of the restart, but Myhill produced a fantastic one-handed save low to his right after Fuller had met Delap's long throw with a firm header.

The home side were exerting plenty of pressure early in the second half, but their final ball wasn't quite good enough.

Good play between Barmby and Ricketts won City a corner on 57 minutes, but Marney's ball in was headed away by former City man Leon Cort.

A mix-up between Paul McShane and Kamil Zayatte gifted substitute Michael Tonge a glorious chance just second after coming on, but his shot went just wide of the far post.

At the other end, King set up a shooting chance for Marney but Thomas Sorensen was equal to his effort.

City's first change came on 70 minutes when Peter Halmosi replaced the hard-working Barmby.

Stoke were offered the chance to get back into the game three minutes later when referee Stroud awarded a penalty after Myhill had brought down Fuller when coming for the ball in the area.

Fuller stepped up and although the City keeper got a good hand on the ball, it squirmed into the bottom corner.

Geovanni fired over as City tried to get back in front before the second change saw Cousin replace Boateng.

Mamady Sidibie was booked for a foul on Zayatte in the centre circle, but City couldn't make anything of the free kick.

Zayatte was the next man to be booked, the referee citing a culmination of offences as the reason.

Myhill had to make a smart save as the game entered its closing stages before Richard Garcia came on for Geovanni.

City won a corner in added time but Marney's delivery was too long for everybody.

Tigers (4-3-2-1) Boaz Myhill; Paul McShane, Michael Turner, Kamil Zayatte, Sam Ricketts; Dean Marney, Ian Ashbee [captain], George Boateng (Cousin 78); Geovanni (Garcia 89), Nick Barmby (Halmosi 70); Marlon King.

Subs: Matt Duke, Bernard Mendy, Peter Halmosi, Stelios, Richard Garcia, Daniel Cousin, Dean Windass.

Bookings: Windass 45, Myhill 72, Zayatte 88

Stoke City (4-4-2) Thomas Sorensen; Andy Griffin, Abdoulaye Faye, Leon Cort, Danny Higginbotham; Tom Soares (Tonge 62), Amdy Faye, Salif Diao, Rory Delap; Mamady Sidibe, Ricardo Fuller.

Subs: Steve Simonsen, Seyi Olofinjana, Glenn Whelan, Richard Cresswell, Michael Tonge, Carl Dickinson, Ibrahima Sonko.

Bookings: Griffin 45, Diao 83