Town: Luke Daniels, Ben Herd (Moss, 46), Neil Ashton (Tierney, 46), Michael Jackson, Graham Coughlan, David Hunt (Humphrey, 56), Ben Davies (c), Shane Cansdell-Sherriff, Grant Holt (Hibbert, 56), Richard Walker (Hindmarsh, 56), Kevin McIntyre

Subs: Darren Moss, Kelvin Langmead, David Hibbert, Chris Humphrey, Steve Leslie, Steven Hindmarsh, Marc Tierney, Glyn Garner

Stoke City: Steve Simonsen, Andy Griffin, Carl Dickinson, Glenn Whelan, Ryan Shawcross, Lewis Buxton, Rory Delap, Anthony Pullis, Dave Kitson, Mamady Sidibe, Richard Cresswell

Subs: Danny Pugh, Jon Parkin, Vincent Pericard, Salif Diao, Andy Wilkinson, Ryan Shotton, Ritchie Delap

Referee: Oliver Langford

Assistant Referees: R.Parker & A. Ihringova

Fourth Official: M. Myatt

Attendance: 3,157 (855)

Martin Wild reports from the Prostar Stadium

Paul Simpson hands young goalkeeper Luke Daniels a debut for the visit of Premier League new boys Stoke City.

Also lining up for Town for the first time is Graham Coughlan, who finally put pen to paper in midweek having been tracked by Simpson throughout the summer.

City made a bright start and record signing Dave Kitson went close for the away side with barely a minute on the clock. He climbed highest in a crowded penalty area and was only inches away from a quick-fire opener.

Kitson then won a free-kick when the referee ruled that Mike Jackson had checked across the strikers run. Glenn Whelan swung the ball in and Lewis Buxton met it with a bullet header, but Daniels pulled off a top drawer save to deny a certain goal after 12 minutes.

As Town's goal continued to lead a charmed life, Mamady Sidibe saw his goalbound header kept out by the young keeper Daniels, and in the same attack the lanky forward sent another effort spinning just wide of the left hand upright.

Salop might not have posed too much threat to Steve Simonsen in the visitors goal in the opening half-hour, but they were playing some neat football as they geared up for next weekend's opening league fixtures.

Sidibe split the Town defence with a long ball and a moments hesitancy from Daniels left Kitson with a clear sight of goal. With Daniels out of his goal having completely missed his attempted clearance, the flame haired striker only managed to put the ball into the North Stand - much to the dismay of the travelling support housed in that area of the Prostar.

Shrews' best chance fell to Grant Holt five minutes before the interval. Dave Hunt's deflected shot found its way to the in-form striker but he failed to get his shot on target to let Stoke off the hook.

Half-Time: 0-0

Both managers made a plethora of changes at the break and in the early stages of the second half.

On the hour mark came the best passage of play in the match. Chris Humphrey covered fully 50 yards in a trademark run and delivered a cross into Dave Hibbert coming in at the near post. He met the ball with some force but Simonsen arced backwards and flicked his header over the bar as the game remained goalless.

After 68 minutes Richard Creswell gave Stoke the lead with a snap-shot across Daniels that went in via the post. There was nothing the keeper could have done to keep the ball out and to be fair, the better goalscoring opportunities had been made by Tony Pulis' men throughout the afternoon.

Salop had proved useful opposition for City, who have a further week to prepare before they make their Premier League bow, with a trip to Bolton their opening fixture in a fortnight.

So a defeat then, in the last of Town's pre-season games. The recruiting appears to have been completed, the players are fit, and the fans are expectant. The real business is about to commence.

Full-Time: 0-1