Black Cats held in dour draw

Sunderland's dismal Barclays Premier League run now stands at one win in 14 after they were held to a lacklustre 0-0 draw by visiting Stoke.The Potters had the better of the chances, with former Black Cat Dean Whitehead twice going close, but the hosts had a strong penalty appeal for handball turned down after the break.Whitehead was lucky to get away with just a caution after kicking out at Lee Cattermole in the first half, but neither side truly deserved three points.Stoke had a great chance to open the scoring in the third minute, but Whitehead fired weakly at Craig Gordon following good work from Tuncay.There were few further clear-cut chances in the opening priod, but Stoke had two fine chances in quick succession after the restart. First, Mamady Sidibe almost converted following a chipped Glenn Whelan free-kick, then Whitehead attempted to drill home the loose ball only for Mensah to deflect it over the crossbar from point-blank range.Sunderland had a strong penalty appeal turned down after 61 minutes when Robert Huth appeared to stop Darren Bent`s lofted pass with his arm. A sprinting Ricardo Fuller almost broke the deadlock with nine minutes to play but Gordon stood firm to parry, while Huth headed wide from a 90th-minute corner.