TONY PULIS decided against rushing back club record signing Kenwyne Jones . . . but handed Jon Walters his debut for Stoke City's first home game of the season against Tottenham Hotspur.
Although the £8 million striker's ankle injury had not been anywhere near as bad as first feared, he was not included in either the starting line-up or among the substitutes named by Pulis.
Therefore, Walters was brought in to partner Ricardo Fuller in City's attack following his £2.75 million arrival from Ipswich Town, while Pulis made one other change to his starting line-up.
The switch was made at left back where Danny Collins was brought in to replace Danny Higginbotham, who dropped down to the bench.
As expected, Tottenham were hit hard by injury setbacks with a long list of key players missing from their squad and Harry Redknapp had only one recognised striker.
Peter Crouch was brought back in to fight a lone battle up front, with Jermain Defoe (groin), Robbie Keane (knee) and Roman Pavyluchenko (hamstring) heading the list of absentees.
Other players missing from the Spurs side were Ledley King (knee), Giovani dos Santos (calf), David Bentley (ankle) and Luka Modric (groin), while Sandro and William Gallas were unavailable.
CITY (4-4-2): Sorensen, Huth, Shawcross, Faye, Collins; Delap, Whelan, Whitehead, Etherington; Walters, Fuller. Subs: Begovic, Higginbotham, Sidibe, Pugh, Tuncay, Tonge, Wilkinson.
TOTTENHAM (4-5-1): Gomes, Corluka, Assou-Ekotto, Dawson, Kaboul,; Lennon, Jenas, Palacios, Huddlestone, Bale; Crouch. Subs: Naughton, Bassong, Kranjcar, Rose, Alnwick, Walker, Livermore.
REFEREE: Chris Foy.
