Rumours of Stoke City's defeat are only just reaching the fans!

STOKE'S run of one win in 24 away games would drive any fan to despair.

But not the Stokie who whipped off his shirt in snowy Newcastle, put his thumbs over his nipples and performed a dance of such jubilation, you'd have thought the Potters had just won the Autoglass Trophy.

It has to be said, this was while the score was still 0-0.

When Papiss Cisse fired Newcastle 2-1 in front in injury time, all the Stokies had put their fleeces back on and were probably crying into them.

I say probably, it was hard to see too much of the 600 travelling Stoke fans, because the away section at Newcastle is at the very top of one of the biggest stands in football.

To say they were a long way from the pitch is an understatement.

I didn't measure the distance myself, but my rough estimate would be that following the game from there is like trying to watch the action at the Britannia Stadium from the top of Kidsgrove dry ski slope.

Rumours of City's defeat are perhaps just reaching those intrepid Stokies who deserved better than another loss on the road.

Let's be fair though, this was not a poor Stoke performance.

One win in the last 10 league games, home and away, won't inspire anyone with confidence, except maybe West Brom, who visit the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.

However, the sub-plot to this defeat was a very presentable Stoke display in which Tony Pulis's side took the game to the home side for periods and, with a touch more fortune, would have had at least a point to show for their efforts.

Stoke might have suspected their luck was out when their coach broke down near Leeds on Saturday evening, meaning they had a six-hour journey to their Newcastle hotel.

That's not an excuse for the defeat against a Newcastle side, some of whom had travelled back from a Thursday night Europa League game in Moscow.

But had Stoke enjoyed the rub of the green, they would have been awarded a first-half penalty when Ryan Shotton was brought down by Davide Santon.

Shotton, who was one of Stoke's best players, despite being moved from right-back to right midfield, was understandably mystified by the decision, although referee Andre Marriner did at least have the decency to point to the spot when Jon Walters was fouled on 67 minutes.

Walters immediately picked up the ball, but took a long time to walk to the penalty spot, which was understandable considering he'd missed his last two spot-kicks.

To say his decision to take the penalty took some guts would be an understatement, so no wonder he celebrated long and loud after drilling the ball past Rob Elliot and into the bottom left corner.

Suddenly a victory which would pretty much end talk of relegation was within touching distance, only to be snatched away by Yohan Cabaye's brilliant free-kick to equalise five minutes later.

A draw would have been about fair on the balance of play, but Stoke were denied even that when Papiss Cisse beat the offside trap and blasted the ball past Asmir Begovic from close range in the second minute of injury time.

If Stoke play like this for the rest of the season, they will pick up the five, six or perhaps seven points they need to secure another season in the top flight.

The concern is what the late defeat will do to the morale of a squad whose confidence must have taken a battering during their poor run in 2013.

The result doesn't help Tony Pulis, who has taken plenty of criticism for the standard of football and entertainment on show.

This performance certainly wasn't dire, but Pulis will have to stress that point to his players who looked thoroughly and understandably dejected as they trudged off.

Pulis will also try to rally the fans ahead of what could be a nervy game against the Baggies at the Britannia.

There's no hiding the fact that some supporters have become disillusioned because of uninspiring performances before the Newcastle game.

Recreating the us-against-the-world mentality at the Brit might not be easy, but I'd try a phone call to Arsene Wenger.

If he wouldn't mind putting the boot in, I'm sure it would help a bit.