STOKE CLAIM NARROW VICTORY

Stoke recorded a 2-1 win over the Bahrain national team in a friendly in Austria on Friday. Tony Pulis' Potters went in front on 32 minutes when Richard Cresswell's deflected curling shot found the bottom corner of the net. However, Bahrain - who have reached the final round of Asian qualifying for World Cup 2010 - hit back just two minutes later when Ismaeel Abdullatif smashed home an equaliser which went in off the post. Pulis was only able to use three substitutes at half-time due to injury problems, but one of them - striker Vincent Pericard - came up trumps on 75 minutes when he headed home a Liam Lawrence corner to win the game. Wigan had to settle for a draw in Germany as their pre-season preparations continued with a 2-2 draw against Hannover. Mikael Forssell, who played under Latics boss Steve Bruce at Birmingham,... [read full story]