Stoke City were brought back down to Earth after a 1-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night.

The Potters have finally started to pick up in the Sky Bet Championship of late, recording their first two wins of the season against Swansea City and Fulham last tine out.

But Nathan Jones' side were unable to secure three successive wins for the first time since 2016 in midweek, as they lost 1-o to the Owls at Hillsborough.

It was always going to be a tough ask for Stoke to beat a Sheffield Wednesday side that have now climbed up to third spot in the league table, after making an impressive start to life under Garry Monk.

But the result could have been completely different had they not conceded such a bizarre goal - Liam Lindsay failing to clear a simple through ball, allowing Massimo Luongo to run through and net the game's only goal.

After succumbing to their ninth defeat of the season, we take a look at three things we learnt about Stoke after their 1-0 defeat to the Owls...

They need to erase defensive mistakes

Stoke have made plenty of errors defensively this season, and it looked as if they turned a corner in recent weeks.

At the start of the season, the likes of Jack Butland made two glaring errors against Preston and against Nottingham Forest that effectively ruined their chances of picking up all three points.

If Lindsay didn't make that mistake on Tuesday night, then Stoke would have more than likely headed into the half-time break drawing 0-0 with a clear mindset, confident of grabbing a winner in the second half.

They cannot afford to keep making these mistakes as it will undo all their hard work.

They miss Bruno Martins Indi

Martins Indi missed the trip to Hillsborough due to illness with Stephen Ward coming in to replace him, but they missed the former on Tuesday night.

He may not be a natural full-back, but he has impressed there in recent weeks and adds real stability to the back-line.

Stephen Ward found it hard to get into any sort of rhythm down the left-hand side, and the sooner they have Martins Indi back, the better.

They are improving

Despite losing another game in bitterly frustrating circumstances, Stoke deserve credit for not throwing in the towel and continuously creating chances.

They had a massive shout for a penalty towards the end of the game, and on another day, that could well have been given.

They looked dangerous going forward at times, and if they keep plugging away and creating chances, they will start to rise up the table.