An uninspiring display from Stoke did little to boost their survival hopes as they played out a dire goalless draw against Gillingham at the Britannia Stadium.

Brighton opened up a three-point cushion between themselves and third-bottom City with victory at Reading on Friday, but the Potters failed to respond.

Gills goalkeeper Vince Bartram was hardly troubled in 90 minutes, but the visitors, with little left to play for, also struggled to create chances and Stoke held on for a point.

Former Gillingham striker Ade Akinbiyi was handed his Stoke debut alongside fellow new-boy Paul Warhurst, with Chris Iwelumo also coming into the starting line-up.

The Gills welcomed Barry Ashby and Nicky Southall back into the side after hamstring problems, while Mamady Sidibe returned from international duty with Mali.

The visitors had the first chance of the afternoon in the ninth minute. A cross from Roland Edge picked out Southall, but his powerful header was superbly tipped over the crossbar by Mark Crossley.

City responded as Iwelumo blazed over from the edge of the area after 21 minutes, but Gillingham countered and almost opened the scoring moments later.

Paul Shaw, the club's joint top scorer, forced another fine stop from Crossley with a fierce drive that the veteran stopper parried to safety.

Southall should have broken the deadlock just before the break, but he cleared the crossbar with a volley from six yards.

Stoke, having lost Mark Wilson at half-time to injury, were then forced to make another change as Akinbiyi left the field to be replaced by Lee Mills.

Both sides were restricted to shooting from distance as Shaw failed to trouble Crossley with a drilled shot from outside the box, before Stoke's Brynjar Gunnarsson fired over from 25 yards.

Bartram easily gathered Clive Clarke's speculative 30-yard effort as time ticked away, and City had to settle for a draw.

Teams

Stoke: Crossley, Thomas, Handyside, Shtaniuk, Clarke, Gunnarsson, Warhurst, Mark Wilson (Gudjonsson 45), Hoekstra, Iwelumo (Marcus Hall 65), Akinbiyi (Mills 59).

Subs Not Used: Banks, Cooke.

Gillingham: Bartram, Nosworthy, Ashby (Leon Johnson 89), Hope, Edge, Southall, Smith, Osborn (Spiller 46), Shaw, Wallace (Tommy Johnson 77), Sidibe.

Subs Not Used: Ipoua, Perpetuini.

Att: 12,746

Ref: A Kaye (W Yorkshire).