The Newcastle boss may have gone public after this tie with thoughts that his charges play too much football - but from the South Stand it was difficult to see that we'd played any.

Yes, we kept a clean sheet and in doing so ended a run of three defeats and we're still in "the hat" (which is of course now a bag and an industrial food mixer).

For that the defence deserves considerable credit, especially the battling performances of Taylor and Faye, who both put their bodies on the line to give Shay some respite between the posts.

However that hardly lifted the spirits of those trudging away on a dirty Potteries night, having seen us fail to show any hint of our alleged Premiership pedigree, even allowing for the factors of a heavy pitch and unfamiliar and hostile surroundings - especially if you're a Tom Jones fan.

And the following day's Fourth Round draw was another howk in the plums for the travelling fans, who have already suffered at the Emirates in the League Cup and now face the prospect of two trips in four days to the most impregnable ground in the land (currently one defeat in 43 games).

In truth though we were hanging on by our fingertips in the second half - Given's and Taylor's in particular, although Steve Bennett managed to avoid pointing to the spot for the latter in what would have been a harsh but typically malevolent decision from this dedicated Toon hater.

We're unable to agree with those who painted this a positive performance overall though - for the simple reason that we failed to show either the battling qualities required across the field or the necessary guile to create and convert chances.  

The Potters are by no means the pick of the Championship and during their recent unbeaten run failed to take more than a point of the likes of Barnsley, Plymouth and Hull.

Yet their set piece play, fitness and general movement eclipsed us too often for comfort. By the end we seemed physically and emotionally spent, while they looked as if they could have ploughed on - thankfully there was no extra time in this tie.

Others may take pride in keeping a lower league side from scoring, but our failings at the other end were only too evident.

Whenever the FA Cup comes around we provide easy copy for the media on a number of levels.

Be it the H*r*ford game (shown within the first minute of Saturday's Football Focus) or our 1950s heritage and more recently Wembley disappointments, a tear-jerking montage of which formed the introduction. 

What of the last men to score in an FA Cup semi final for us though?

The 1998 and 1999 hitman was in his usual place on the BBC couch, while Rob Lee was nowhere to be seen, but of the 2005 Cardiff consolation converter Ameobi there was no sign.

While Milner was genuinely under the weather, the absence of Ameobi and Emre from the squad was given rather unconvincingly as injury. 

In reality the man who has scored 46 senior goals in our colours and had as many chances looks to be completely out of favour with the management. Meanwhile the Constantinople charlatan was out of the country, which seems a strange way to treat yet another leg-related ailment.  

The sight of Carroll and LuaLua appearing in the closing stages almost transported us back a year to St.Andrews, where both were selected by Roeder to try and ram home his lack of squad depth and warmed up for most of the second half without getting on.

This time though both took to the field - the former on his 19th birthday after returning from an eventful stint on loan at Preston that did little to further his career, the latter having his first runout since an unimpressive showing against Shrewsbury in the FA Youth Cup.

However both showed considerably more enterprise and enthusiasm for the struggle, Lomana's brother trying to push forward and causing a few scares, while big Andy nearly won it in the dying seconds as he shaved the outside of a post - almost managed to start a fight with a home player.

On a day when we were looking for a Cup hero and for players to stand up and be counted" (an over-used phrase in 2007), the two rookies came as close to achieving that as anyone.

Certainly the contributions of their elders and supposed betters in midfield and attack did little to raise the sprits of a travelling crowd who were resolutely vocal and supportive of their side and manager (witness the Big Sam chants) but who got precious little back in return.

Captain Smith was again treading water in a deep midfield role while Duff scampered skittishly down the wing to no great effect in his third game back. N'Zogbia looked to be our main threat restored to a more advanced midfield role but invariably ran into trouble by failing to release the ball.

Butt launched a couple of efforts high over the bar, while the little and large combination of Viduka & Owen was ineffective, despite the latter pleading for better service, specifically the ball to feet.

Miserable though it was, perhaps this could be some sort of turning point in a sort of ground zero style - Given certainly sought to portray that feeling of collective strength through adversity in his post-match quotes.

However the 'keeper also made the admission that we'd under-performed previously - presumably he had both Derby and Wigan in his mind at that point. 

It's an obvious question to ask why that was the case - our best guess is that as a whole the squad now accept that nothing will happen to the management until the end of the current season and are just getting on with it - or phoning their agents. 

Having suffered through the absence of Beye today, we now lose Faye to international duty and Butt for two games through suspension.

On that basis and with upcoming league trips to Old Trafford and The Emirates we really could have done without the burden of an extra game, with success in that replay presenting us with another trip to Arsene's kingdom.

The worry is that our present mid-table slot is eaten away at by the chasing pack and we get pulled into the mire by resurgent sides such as Wigan, whom we've already gifted three points to.

Cup glory was never likely but a seemingly futile campaign could end up doing more harm than good - as it was though, Allardyce isn't far away from where Roeder was exactly a year ago after a cup match that brought added grief rather than relief.