Stoke and Luton were both reduced to 10 men in an ill-tempered goalless Coca-Cola Championship clash at the Britannia Stadium.

Potters striker Ricardo Fuller was sent off for clashing with Luton defender Sol Davis before the half-hour mark and Davis joined him in the dressing room eight minutes later for a shocking challenge on Mamady Sidibe.

The red cards overshadowed Stoke's dominance throughout and the visitors will be happier with a point which leaves them a solitary point above the Championship relegation zone, while the home side have now slumped to six points below the play-off places.

Lee Hendrie, Salif Diao and Darel Russell returned to the Stoke midfield after they all missed last weekend's 1-0 defeat at Birmingham through suspension, and it was Russell who wasted the best chance of the game in the fourth minute.

Andy Griffin beat Kevin Foley down the left-hand side before floating in a sublime cross which Russell met with a powerful header from eight yards which whistled narrowly over the bar.

And just eight minutes later Tony Pulis' side wasted another glorious through striker Sidibe.

Again the danger came down Stoke's left, with Hendrie whipping in a cross to pick out the Mali striker but his header was well held by Marlon Beresford.

Mike Newell's visitors were struggling to come to terms with the home side's slick play but were handed a bonus when Fuller was dismissed in the 29th minute.

Fuller and Davis were jostling as Hendrie prepared to take a free-kick and after Davis slumped to the floor holding his face referee Trevor Kettle showed the former Preston striker a straight red card.

But the advantage was shortlived as Davis was sent off in the 37th minute when he launched into a totally unnecessary challenge as Sidibe looked to shield the ball out of play near the corner flag.

And Sidibe's day went from bad to worse when he was forced off with a serious looking injury in the 58th minute to be replaced by youngster Adam Rooney.

But Rooney was unable to provide the spark required to break through some stubborn Luton defending, with Beresford only called into action once in a frustrating second half.

Liam Lawrence exchanged passes with Diao to drill in a right-footed drive from the edge of the area but Beresford got his body behind it to comfortably keep it out.

And Pulis saw his side make it four league games without a win when Lawrence fired in a superb goal-bound volley in the dying minutes only to see Markus Heikkinen athletically divert it behind for a corner.

Teams:

Stoke Simonsen, Hoefkens, Higginbotham, Fortune,Griffin (Dickinson 88), Lawrence, Russell (Martin 77), Diao,Hendrie, Fuller, Sidibe (Rooney 58).

Subs Not Used: Hoult, Eustace.

Sent Off: Fuller (29).

Booked: Lawrence, Hendrie, Higginbotham, Diao.

Luton Beresford, Foley, Heikkinen, Perrett (Keane 46), Davis,Bell (Langley 80), Robinson, Spring, Morgan, Boyd (Emanuel 45),Runstrom.

Subs Not Used: Brill, O'Leary.

Sent Off: Davis (37).

Booked: Heikkinen, Morgan.

Att: 12,375

Ref: T Kettle (Berkshire).