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Dale Eve and his Stoke City Under 21 teammates suffered defeat against Midlands neighbors West Bromwich Albion in the Barclays Under 21 Premier League.
Stoke will feel hard done by after a spirited display in the second half but felt the chill of West Bromwich Albion on a cold evening at Coventry City's Ricoh Arena.
Oliver Shenton had levelled matters for Glyn Hodges' men midway in the second half after Alex Jones gave the hosts the lead before the break.
Adil Nabi immediately regained the lead with a well taken strike before Jones secured the points with his second goal of the evening ten minutes from time.
Stoke started brightly early on by stringing together an array of crisp passes and carved the first effort at goal when Joel Taylor's half-chance from the edge of the area was comfortably gathered by goalkeeper Jack Rose.
Chances on goal were sparse in the opening 15 minutes with play being dominated in midfield as both sides looked to gain a hold of possession.
City looked comfortable on the ball with Robbie Parry impressing with a number of neat touches as part of an attacking three behind lone-striker George Waring.
Albion, meanwhile, looked to exploit the Potters with a number of cross field balls but the Potters did well to withstand any pressure.
The hosts almost took the lead on 24 minutes when midfielder Rees Wedderburn twisted and turned away from Elliot Wheeler down the right before seeing his low drive across goal hit the outside of the post from a tight angle.
Adil Nabi was key in the Albion attack and he saw a long-range effort go well wide just before the half-hour mark.
Nabi then turned provider a few minutes later when his first time pass found Jones on the edge of the area, with the striker then unleashing a low drive past Dale Eve to give the Baggies the lead on 34 minutes.
The lead gave the Baggies plenty of momentum with Samir Nabi's strike deflecting for a corner with the resulting kick falling to brother Adil who saw his shot saved by Eve.
City saw Charlie Ward fire an effort over from 25-yards as they struggled to muster any glaring opportunities on Rose's goal in what was a well contested first-half.
It was Albion who looked the sharpest after the interval and saw their cries for a penalty rejected before Liam O'Neil's shot went wide following excellent play from Nabi on the edge of the area.
Hodges urged his team to slow things down and maintain possession from the touchline to prevent the hosts gaining further momentum.
Stoke did just that and went close to levelling matters when Shenton burst into the area and saw his swerving goal bound effort saved by Rose, who did well to adjust his body and palm the ball away.
Shenton was involved once more just before the hour-mark when his floating ball in behind the Baggies backline found Parry sprinting forward down the left, but the winger's first touch was heavy allowing Rose to close down the angle and prevent a shooting opportunity.
The highly-rated youngster then got his just desserts moment later, capitalizing on a long ball forward and forcing a low drive from just inside the area into the bottom corner to give the Potters a deserved equalizer.
City's effort was then thwarted when the hosts regained the lead almost immediately, Adil Nabi's goalward effort was brilliantly blocked by Liam Edwards, before the forward reacted quickest to stroke the ball into the far corner.
Samir Nabi gained possession in the Stoke half and used his pace to burst forward before playing in Jones who fired straight at Eve.
City continued to push for a leveller late on and as their cries for a penalty were waved away Jones pounced on a loose ball forward, beating Eve who raced out of his area to slot the ball in the empty goal to bag his second goal of the evening and secure the spoils for the home side.
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