Stoke City’s good run of form came to a disappointing end as they lost 1-0 to Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.

Nathan Jones was looking for his third straight win as manager, after wins against Swansea City and Fulham silenced the demands for his departure for at least a week.

Wednesday, though, proved one Premier League hopeful too many for the Potters as they fell victim to a narrow 1-0 defeat, after Massimo Luongo handed the home side all three points towards the end of the first half.

The midfielder latched on to a well-hit Morgan Fox long ball, aided significantly by substitute Liam Lindsay's catastrophic error. The defender missed the ball completely as he attempted to clear it on the half-volley which left Luongo clear one-on-one with goalkeeper Adam Federici who could do nothing about the finish.

Jones cited the mistake, speaking to the official club website after the defeat, as the main reason for their loss. He said: “In the end the error has cost us really.

“The weekend seemed to take a lot out of us, and we were a bit leggy first half, we didn’t get on the end of second balls and allowed them to put a few balls into our box which on another day we would have stopped.

“In the end it’s just a long ball and an error which has undone us. Apart from that there wasn’t much in the game.”

Despite claiming that Lindsay’s mistake was the main difference between the two sides, the manager couldn’t help but relay a refereeing decision that cost his side a point.

“Second half we’ve had a really great chance through Lee (Gregory) and the keeper has pulled off a great save because to be fair Lee did very well. We should have also had a penalty.

“There’s a lot gone against us tonight in terms of injuries, a big error, a refereeing decision but sometimes that's how things go in football.”

The “refereeing decision” in question was a pull-back on Joe Allen as the midfielder raced into the box and has his shirt tugged by Barry Bannan. The two collided, sending Allen to the floor only for Andy Madley to award a goal kick to the Owls.

The verdict

The penalty was contentious and perhaps one of those where if it’s your team, you want to see it being given but would feel hard done to if it was given against you.

The game – as Jones claims – was very even and probably ought to have ended in a draw.

A bizarre mistake cost Jones yesterday but his side are continually improving and look to be finally getting to grips with the division. Madley’s decision isn’t one to fume over.