Manchester City assistant coach David Platt has claimed that his side's point in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Stoke City could prove valuable at the end of the season.

Peter Crouch gave the Potters the lead at the Britannia Stadium with a spectacular volley before Yaya Toure drew the Blues level with 15 minutes to play.

"You know you're going to have to defend and compete for 90 minutes at Stoke and we did that," Platt told ESPN.

"We defended set pieces very well and it took a wonder goal from Peter Crouch to put them in front. As soon as it left his foot it was in.

"People will look at it as two points dropped but we put ourselves back into it and there is still lot of time to go. We won't know until the end of the season if it's a point gained. We'll follow our road, [Manchester] United will follow theirs."

The Red Devils can go three points ahead of their local rivals at the top of the table with a win over Fulham on Monday night.