Tottenham Hotspur could not find a breakthrough in their match against draw specialists Stoke City this afternoon as they were held to a goalless stalemate.

Kenwyne Jones should have given his side the lead after just 40 seconds when he intercepted a sloppy Kyle Walker pass, only to send his effort over the bar.

Jones squandered another chance to give Stoke the lead a quarter of an hour later having been found by Matthew Etherington, but Hugo Lloris was on hand to deny the striker this time.

Spurs' best chance of the first half came when Moussa Dembele caught Glenn Whelan in possession before feeding Gareth Bale, who crossed to Emmanuel Adebayor, but the former Arsenal man couldn't keep his effort down.

Bale tried a cheeky effort 10 minutes into the second half when he saw Asmir Begovic organising his defence for a corner. The Welshman attempted to score straight from the set piece, but his strike landed on the roof of the net.

Bale had a much better chance just one minute later, rising to meet Aaron Lennon's cross, but his header went over the bar.

Stoke responded with a chance of their own, Geoff Cameron jinking his way past two defenders before pulling the ball back to Ryan Shotton, but he scuffed his shot straight at Lloris.

Begovic rescued a point for his side in second-half stoppage time with a fine save from Gylfi Sigurdsson's effort.