City entered the New Year and picked up a point after a low key affair against Hull City at the Britannia Stadium.
Leon Cort put the Potters ahead in the first half, but Caleb Folan's second half header ensured the Tigers went home with a share of the spoils.
Results elsewhere mean the Potters stay in fourth position, five points ahead of seventh place Plymouth Argyle.
Tony Pulis was forced in to three changes ahead of the match with leading scorer Ricardo Fuller (family reasons), Russell Hoult (suspension) and Andy Wilkinson (injury) all ruled out.
Jon Parkin was handed a start against his former club, partnering Mamady Sidibe up front, while Stephen Wright returned from injury to replace Wilkinson at right back.
Goalkeeper Hoult's sending off at Plymouth on Saturday paved the way for Steve Simonsen's return after being dropped for the clash in Devon.
The game started slowly, with neither side able to get a stranglehold on the game.
However it was the visitors who created the first real effort on goal after eight minutes.
Veteran striker Dean Windass should have done better from four yards, but he flicked the ball over the bar following great work on the flank from Richard Garcia.
Midfielder Bryan Hughes attempted a speculative bicycle kick on the half hour, which City keeper Simonsen comfortably gathered.
Somewhat against the run of play City took the lead on 32 minutes thanks to on loan Crystal Palace man Cort.
Rory Delap's long throw in caught the Hull defence napping and the powerful defender rose highest to flick the ball past Boaz Myhill and in to the back of the net.
The goal sparked life in to City, and a frantic five minutes could have seen the lead expanded.
Firstly Parkin burst through on to a Sidibe flick on, but Myhill brilliantly saved before Michael Turner hacked the ball off the line.
A clever corner routine a minute later resulted in Liam Lawrence firing in a 30-yard strike which the Tigers keeper expertly tipped over the bar.
From the resulting corner Cort almost grabbed his second goal of the afternoon, but he mistimed his header before the ball was scrambled away from danger.
Phil Brown's side desperately tried to claw their way back in to the game as the first half drew to a close, but they couldn't find a way through a resilient City backline.
The second half began with Parkin attempting to catch the visiting keeper out from the half way line. However his effort ended up well over the bar.
Hull looked refreshed following the break and they levelled the scoreline after an hour.
The evergreen Windass whipped in a dangerous ball and ex-Wigan striker Folan towered above Danny Pugh to power his header beyond Simonsen and in to the bottom left hand corner.
Delap launched a long range strike which tested the hands of Myhill, while Windass struck over following good work by Garcia.
Substitute Vincent Pericard, who replaced Parkin, was harshly denied a penalty in the 80th minute, after he appeared to have been tripped after latching on to a long ball forward.
The Frenchman had the last chance of the game with just a minute to go, but he failed to connect with the ball after it bobbled in to his path.
The draw extended City's unbeaten run to ten games.
