Stoke City goalkeeper Adam Federici believes the injuries suffered to both defender Cameron Carter-Vickers and Peter Etebo, played a key role in the Potters' 1-0 defeat at Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday.

Nathan Jones' side had been looking to build on back to back victories, which had lifted Stoke off the bottom of the table heading into Tuesday's match against Sheffield Wednesday, but the Potters' prospects of coming away with a positive result were hampered by both Etebo and Carter-Vickers having to come off inside the first half an hour with injuries.

Stoke then fell behind just two-minutes before the break, with Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Massimo Luongo firing beyond Federici - and Jones' side could not respond in the second half as the game lacked tempo with a lot of stoppages throughout the contest.

Speaking to Stoke's official website following the defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, Federici suggested that the injuries and stoppages played a part in the Potters not being able to find enough rhythm to produce an equaliser in the second half, saying "The first half wasn’t particularly great, we didn’t start very well and it was a sloppy goal that put us on the back foot but I don’t think we played well enough and certainly not enough to deserve the three points.

"A draw would probably have been a good result tonight. It was a disappointing start coming off the back of a good couple of performances we’ve had in the last two games.

"We knew tonight was going to be different, they’re a different team with a different style of play.

"The game seemed like it was stopping every two minutes for long periods of time and it killed the momentum and we couldn’t get going. I’m not blaming that, it was unfortunate there was so many injuries for both sides."

The Verdict

Federici is probably right to suggest that all of the stoppages during the game favoured Sheffield Wednesday towards the end of the game, with the Owls in front and looking to see out the victory, and Jones' side failed to find enough momentum to sustain pressure on Wednesday's goal to force an equaliser in the second period.

The Potters, though, did at least continue to look much more solid in defence, apart from Liam Lindsay's mistake for Luongo's goal, with Federici helping his defence withstand periods of pressure from the hosts - and the Australian has managed to establish himself in goal head of Jack Butland in recent weeks.

Stoke will be hopeful that both Carter-Vickers and Etebo can return to fitness as soon as possible, so the Potters can get back to producing the level of performances they did in wins at Swansea and at home to Fulham in the matches leading up Tuesday's loss at Sheffield Wednesday.