Stoke City 0 Wolves 0 – Five talking points

Nuno Espirito Santo's team had the better of this old Staffordshire derby but drew a blank.

They now have just two pre-season matches left before the Premier League campaign kicks off.

So what did we learn from the game? Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers picks out five talking points.

Typical pre-season

At a half-closed bet365 Stadium, with the evening Staffordshire sun creating a yellow glow in the stands (or maybe that was just the away end) and with little exciting football on display, this was *very* pre-season.

Wolves created the more alluring chances and were the better team, which considering the opposition is a notable achievement.

Stoke's squad belongs in the Premier League on paper and Wolves ended this game with four youngsters on the field who've started one senior game between them, yet still kept the Potters at bay with ease.

Nuno's team did though lack, again, the fluency and creativity they had in spades in Switzerland when scoring six goals against Basel and Young Boys.

Still unbeaten

They're still unbeaten in pre-season though (a penalty shoot-out aside) despite having played Basel, Young Boys, Ajax, Bochum, Real Betis and now Stoke City.

They've also conceded just two goals in 450 minutes of football.

While the attacking threat wasn't overly prevalent here, that will come, you feel. It would be far more of a concern if Wolves were shipping goals left, right and centre but the fact is they look as solid and organised as they did for the majority of last season.

And the two times Stoke breached the Wolves defence they found Rui Patricio in the way, with the Portuguese keeper producing two fine saves in his first Wolves appearance on English soil.

Peak for Villarreal

Last summer Wolves experienced a mixed pre-season in terms of performances and results and then peaked for the final home friendly against Leicester City, a game Nuno effectively treated as the start of the proper season.

Wolves were superb that day and the 1-0 win courtesy of Ivan Cavaleiro's strike flattered the forlorn Foxes.

This time around it's Alfred N'Diaye's Villarreal who will provide the last opposition before Wolves' league season starts and it's then that Wolves must peak, not against Stoke.

There are things to address and holes in the squad but fitness remains the players' most important objective.

Youngsters shine

Ruben Neves was probably the pick of Wolves' players and Raul Jimenez produced some nice touches and hold-up play up front but once again Wolves youngsters, as they have since day one in Switzerland, impressed.

Pedro Goncalves was tidy and effective in midfield and almost laid on an assist with a lovely floated free kick which Danny Batth headed just wide,

Benny Ashley-Seal came closest to breaking the deadlock with a run from deep and a left-footed shot which struck the foot of the post.

And that man Ryan Giles, arguably the star turn of this pre-season campaign, produced the moment of the match when he cut inside, slalomed past his man and hit a wicked drive across goal which keeper Federici pushed wide with a superb save.

Defensively he was sound and didn't give £10million new Stoke signing Tom Ince a look-in on his Potters debut. Not once did Ince beat him.

Giles still, despite the arrival of Jonny Castro, is in possession of the left wing back shirt, as he has since the Young Boys game owing to Barry Douglas' injury (and now impending departure).

He's mature enough to know it's unlikely to still be his on August 11. But what a fine job he's done in the past few weeks.

Great turnout

It was only 45 minutes down the road in Stoke but what a turnout for 2,000 Wolves fans to make the trip for a pre-season friendly.

They made up more than a fifth of the total attendance and were the only fans you could hear for most of the game.

The sense of excitement at what could lie ahead this season is palpable.