Villa's second string were held to a rare goalless draw at the Weaver Stadium.

Despite edging a closely-fought first-half, Kevin MacDonald's side couldn't quite force their way past an experienced Stoke outfit.

Andreas Weimann went close in the early stages, cutting in from the left and forcing Steve Simonsen to save low to his left.

Minutes before the break, Nathan Delfouneso went on a mazy run but his shot from just outside the box dipped over the bar.

The home side's best effort was a long-range strike from Dave Kitson, but he failed to trouble Elliot Parish.

The Potters provided a much sterner test after the restart, and Parish did brilliantly to beat away a volley from substitute Nathaniel Wedderburn.

Weimann had another great chance for the visitors but headed a Marc Albrighton's cross straight at Simonsen.

STOKE: Simonsen, Griffin, Cort, Higginbotham, Pugh, Soares, Arismendi, Faye, Tonge, Sidebe, Kitson. Substitutes: Parton, Cohen (for Cort), Wedderburn (for Faye), Lund, Moult (for Sidebe).

VILLA: Parish, Lichaj, Roome, Osbourne, Clark, Baker, Albrighton, Weimann, Delfouneso, Bannan, Collins. Substitutes: Lampkin, Dau, G Gardner (for Collins), Williams, Blythe.