Southampton and Stoke played out a tense but turgid 0-0 draw at St Mary's that leaves both sides still precariously placed near the bottom of the Premier League
Badou Ndiaye came close to breaking the deadlock in the first half but the midfielder's header was tipped around the post by Alex McCarthy
Southampton were the better side in the second period and Jack Butland was forced into making saves from Joshua Sims and Cedric Soares before substitute Sofiane Boufal headed wide from close range
The result leaves Stoke in the drop zone in 19th place, with the Saints only a point outside of the relegation places
For Stoke manager Paul Lambert, it is the second straight game his side have shown their battling qualities away from home to take a point having drawn at Leicester, and their defensive improvement under the Scot was on display once more
Kurt Zouma and Bruno Martins Indi impressed in containing the Southampton forward line, but the only incident of note in the first 45 minutes came when Mame Diouf was forced off the pitch after a collision with Wesley Hoedt
Diouf had appeared to intentionally stamp on the Dutch defender's foot, an incident that was not picked up by referee Anthony Taylor, and Hoedt got his retribution moments later as the Senegalese forward was forced off with a shoulder injury as both went up for an aerial challenge
Stoke came closest to breaking the deadlock before the interval as Ndiaye rose to meet Xherdan Shaqiri's cross but McCarthy did well to get down to his left to tip the header around the post
Southampton improved in the second period as Sims forced Butland into an immediate save with his feet before a fine last-ditch tackle from Jack Stephens on Maxim Choupo-Moting denied Stoke on the counter-attack
But it was largely one-way traffic towards the visitors' goal as Cedric's rising half-volley forced Butland into an acrobatic save before Boufal somehow headed wide from Nathan Redmond's cross with the goal at his mercy
But the lack of quality in the final third, so often the issue for both sides all season, meant neither deserved to win as they both were forced to settle for a point
 "We deserved to get something more
 I thought we dominated the game in the second half
 But it's about efficiency
 We couldn't convert the possession into goals
"Obviously, when you make a change you want to make an impact in the game, and we played with more tempo in the second half
 We have to learn to do this from the beginning
" "I think any point you get in this division is really good
 It's a tough game, and we lost Mame (Diouf) at a tough time as I thought he was a threat, and we looked really good going forward on the counter-attack in the first half
"We defended strongly and we may have lost this game a month or so ago
 It's another positive point, and I'm delighted with the team not getting beat
 I love it, I love the pressure of it
 It's big-time football, and I can't praise the lads enough for their efforts
"In a game of few chances, the Stoke defence continued their resurgence with Zouma showing further signs of maturity during his loan spell from Chelsea
His positional play was outstanding here, and the clean sheet owed much to his discipline and athleticism during Southampton's second-half onslaught
Southampton whipped countless balls into the box through Ryan Bertrand and Redmond, but the French defender made several vital clearances and limited the number of shots on Butland's goal
"Southampton were the better side, definitely second half
 Stoke were dangerous on the counter-attack but it was just their final pass which wasn't good enough
"I wouldn't say Southampton lay siege on the Stoke goal but I thought Butland was very today, and fair play to him as he made a mistake last week
"Southampton will be kicking themselves now as they have all these away games now and are also in the FA Cup
 They go to Wigan and other teams will be playing on that day
"They'll be playing catch up
 The best chance fell to Boufal and if it was Carrillo or Gabbiadini they would've scored
 I don't know where the goals are going to come
 They just huff and puff
"Southampton visit Newcastle at St James' Park next Saturday while Stoke host Manchester City on March 12, live on 
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