Adam Rooney grabbed a late equaliser to earn City's second-string a profitable 1-1 draw against Sheffield Wednesday at the Lyme Valley Stadium.

The Republic of Ireland under-19 international struck in the 77^th minute to cancel out Burton O'Brien's first-half opener for the Owls.

Rooney could have snatched all three points for Noel Blake's men but for a brilliant last minute save from Wednesday goalkeeper Chris Adamson.

Academy boss Blake handed several first-team stars a chance to impress ahead of Saturday's local derby clash against Wolves.

Defender Marlon Broomes made his first appearance for the Potters since sustaining an Achilles injury during pre-season, while John Eustace, Carl Dickinson and Andy Wilkinson all started after returning from recent loan spells.

But the visitors began the brighter of the two sides and could have taken the lead in the 19^th minute when a header from David Graham bounced back off the crossbar.

However, South African international O'Brien made no mistake eleven minutes before the interval when he drilled a powerful low effort beyond City 'keeper Rob Duggan from the edge of the area.

Duggan denied Graham with a point-blank save moments later while Drew Talbot headed over on the stroke of half-time.

The Potters struggled to break through a stubborn Wednesday resistance and didn't register their first shot on goal until the 55 minute when Rooney blasted over from 18-yards.

But they grew in confidence as the game wore on and deservedly levelled when Dickinson's determined run and cross was poached home by Rooney on the goal-line.

And Rooney came within a finger-tip of clinching victory in the dying seconds as his looping header from a Matt Hazley corner was plucked out of the top corner by Adamson.