Two second-half Stoke City goals saw Preston North End beaten in Championship action at Deepdale.
After going into the break level, strikes from Will Smallbone and Tyrese Campbell secured the points for the visitors.
Jordan Storey returned to the starting XI for PNE following suspension, while Alan Browne and Bambo Diaby also came in. Both Daniel Johnson and Liam Lindsay missed out through knocks, and 17-year-old Finlay Cross-Adair was named on the bench for the first time.
The visitors started brightly and Freddie Woodman was called into action 11 minutes in, rushing out to Campbell and denying the forward from close range.
Storey twice came close in the space of a minute, firstly seeing a volley blocked – with appeals for handball – before he saw a header from the resulting corner also intercepted by a defender.
PNE were again asking for a penalty on 40 minutes, when skipper Browne sent a great ball through to Andrew Hughes and, as he made his way into the box, he went down under pressure from a defender, but nothing was given.
Within a minute, Dwight Gayle looked like he had an extra yard on Storey as he raced towards goal, but Storey made up the ground and produced a vital block.
There was still time for another PNE penalty shout in stoppage time, with Josh Laurent clearing straight against what appeared to be teammate Phil Jagielka’s arm, but appeals were again waved away.
Jagielka then had the first real chance of the second half, with the ball falling kindly to the defender, who sent a left-footed volley over the bar.
Stoke did find the opener, though, on 58 minutes, as Gayle sent a low cross into the box from the left for Smallbone to finish into the bottom corner.
The visitors then came closing to doubling that lead soon after, as Campbell sent a dangerous cross into the box for Gayle, whose header fell just inches wide.
That second goal did come on 66 minutes, with a long ball over the top finding Campbell, and the striker calmly curled past Freddie Woodman in goal.
Woodman was then called into action by Gayle and Tarique Fosu in the next stages of the game, before a senior debut was handed to Cross-Adair for PNE, but the home side couldn’t get a goal back and the game ended 2-0.
PNE line-up: Woodman; Storey, Diaby (Evans, 83), Hughes; Browne (Potts, 71), Whiteman, McCann, Brady (Woodburn, 71), Fernández; Maguire (Cross-Adair, 82), Riis. Subs not used: Cornell, Cunningham, Ledson.
Stoke City line-up: Bursik; Wilmot, Jagielka, Fox; Sterling, Laurent, Baker, Smallbone (Clucas, 78), Fosu; Campbell (Delap, 70), Gayle (Clarke, 86). Subs not used: Bonham, Flint, Thompson, Wright-Phillips.
Attendance: 17,498 (3,235 Stoke City fans)
Referee: Mr M Donohue.