Stoke City have taken a deserved 1-0 lead at half-time against Reading.

It was a typical early-season encounter in the opening stages, with both sides cancelling each other out and the only chances were coming from wide.

Half-chances continued to arrive for both teams from corners and crosses, but neither had been tested in the opening 30 minutes.

Stoke were looking most likely to trouble the scorers with Jon Walters glancing a header just wide and directing a shot straight at Adam Federici.

Indeed Stoke did take the lead after 34 minutes, but it was a howler from Federici as he fumbled a scuffed Michael Kightly shot into the net.

Reading continued to struggle to get into the game as most of the action was happening in their half.