Plymouth Argyle put in a stubborn defensive rearguard action as they picked up just their third away Championship point of the season from a 0-0 draw with Stoke City at the bet365 Stadium.

It was also just the Pilgrims’ second clean sheet in 25 league games this term and while Stoke dominated the possession and did virtually all of the attacking in the second half they were rarely able to get clean sights of goal.

When they did, goalkeeper Conior Hazard made a couple of decent saves but generally Argyle made it very difficult for the Potters to break them down as they were well set up by Kevin Nancekivell and Joe Edwards.

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It was the sort of defensive-minded display that perhaps former head coach Wayne Rooney should have perhaps looked for near the end of his time at the club given Argyle’s struggles on the road this season.

It was a result which ended a run of five successive away defeats and although they have still only scored three goals on their travels in 2024/25 this was a much-needed building block for them.

Ryan Hardie was absent from the Argyle squad after hurting his left shoulder during the 2-2 New Year’s Day draw with Bristol City at Home Park so Michael Obafemi was up front instead.

Obafemi, the loan signing from Burnley, was the only striker available for selection after the departure of Andre Gray at the end of his short-term contract.

Argyle had announced the club record signing of Ghana international midfielder Michael Baidoo on Friday night but his transfer was not completed in time for him to feature against Stoke.

Defender Lewis Gibson had also been sold to Championship rivals Preston North End for a fee of over £1.5 million, while Mustapha Bundu Joe Edwards and Muhamed Tijani were still sidelined by injuries, so teenage trio Tegan Finn, Freddie Issaka and Caleb Roberts were all named among the substitutes.

Stoke had Argyle youth product Sam Gallagher in attack, while Ashley Phillips, who was on loan to the Pilgrims from Tottenham Hotspur in the second half of last season, lined up in defence for them.

Two other former Argyle players, striker Niall Ennis and defender Ben Gibson, were both on the bench as new Stoke manager Mark Robins took charge for the first time.

On a bitterly cold Saturday lunchtime in the Potteries it was Stoke who had the first scoring chance when Gallagher drove forward, holding off Argyle captain Adam Randell, but then shot wide left-footed from 20 yards out.

The Potters dominated the possession early on with Argyle content to try to keep a tight defensive shape and work their way into the game.

Stoke next threatened when Lewis Koumas was able to get in behind Argyle defender Brendan Galloway and he put in a cross which was pushed away by Conor Hazard, but the ball had already gone out of play before that.

The Potters kept up the pressure with a shot from striker Tom Cannon being saved by Hazard after a cut-back from the bright and busy Bae Junho.

Argyle were then able to force a couple of corners in quick succession, the second one after a strike from Morgan Whittaker outside the Stoke box was deflected wide off Tatsuki Seko.

Darko Gyabi then made a terrific run forward for the Pilgrims, beating a couple of players on the way, but the on-loan Leeds United midfielder shot tamely straight at Stoke captain Viktor Johansson after deciding not to pass outside to Whittaker.

There were a number of stoppages with Argyle players taking knocks and the Stoke players and fans got frustrated at what they saw as the visitors’ time-wasting tactics.

Galloway had a decent shooting opportunity for the away side when the ball was touched back to him by Whittaker, who had been crowded out on the edge of the Stoke penalty area, but the Zimbabwe international sent the ball slicing wide of the target.

Stoke were awarded a free-kick just outside the Argyle penalty area after Gyabi fouled Andrew Morgan, although the visitors were adamant he had made contact with the ball but when Bae Junho took the set piece he sent it straight into the defensive wall.

Moments later, Hazard was shown a yellow card by referee Dean Whitestone for taking too long to restart the play as the Pilgrims clearly tried to break up the flow of the game whenever they could. Those tactics succeeded up until half-time as it remained goal-less and in the circumstances Argyle would have been happy with that.

Stoke had a good chance to break the deadlock soon after the restart when Seko got the by-line and pulled the ball back to Junior Tchamadeu, whose first-time shot was beaten away by Hazard.

Soon afterwards, Gallagher was forced to leave the pitch due to an injury and he was replaced by Wouter Burger in the first substitution of the match.

Argyle continued to try to frustrate Stoke by preventing them from getting into any attacking rhythm as they put five players across their back line. It meant Oafemi saw very little of the ball.

Tchamadeu blasted the ball high and wide from outside the Argyle box as City looked to get in behind the visitors but they did not have much success in doing that.

Hazard bravely slid out to grab the ball at the feet of the onrushing Cannon after an excellent pass from Tchamadeu had opened up the Pilgrims’ defence for once.

Argyle’s first substitution came in the 64th minute as Obafemi made way for 18-year-old Freddie Issaka, who went up with Whittaker as they lined up in a 5-3-2 formation.

A brilliant run down the Stoke right from Koumas led to a chance for Burger, who twisted one way and then another with some clever skill on the ball before letting fly with a shot which was deflected narrowly wide for a corner.

Adam Forshaw was a 70th minute replacement for Gyabi before Stoke were inches away from breaking the deadlock when Tchamadeu crossed from the right and Cannon sent his shot across the face of the goal.

The Pilgrims were being pinned back as Stoke built the pressure on them and they made a double change in the 79th minute with Sorinola, who was struggling after picking up a knock, and Al Hajj making way for Nathanael Ogbeta and Jordan Houghton.

Bali Mumba moved across to the right as Ogbeta went to left-back for the Pilgrims, which meant he was up against the talented teenage Liverpool loanee Koumas.

Burger volleyed wide for the Potters after a headed clearance by Ogbeta but that was as close as Stoke to scoring a winning goal in the closing stages, which included six additional minutes at the end of the second half.

ARGYLE: Conor Hazard; Kornel Szucs, Julio Pleguezuelo, Brendan Galloway; Matty Sorinola (Nathanael Ogbeta 79 mins), Darko Gyabi (Adam Forshaw 70 mins), Adam Randell, Bali Mumba; Morgan Whittaker, Rami Al Hajj (Jordan Houghton 79 mins); Michael Obafemi (Freddie Issaka 64 mins).

Substitutes (not used): Dan Grimshaw, Ibrahim Cissoko, Caleb Roberts, Tegan Finn, Victor Palsson.

STOKE: Viktor Johansson; Junior Tchamadeu, Ashley Phillips, Ben Wilmot, Lynden Gooch; Lewis Koumas, Tatsuki Seko, Andrew Moran, Sam Gallagher (Wouter Burger 49 mins), Bae Junho, Tom Cannon.

Substitutes (not used): Jack Bonham, Enda Stevens, Michael Rose, Niall Ennis, Bosun Lawal, Ben Gibson, Sol Sidibe, Emre Tezgel.

REFEREE: Dean Whitestone

ATTENDANCE: 26,168 (1,407)

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