IT says everything about the standards set on Teesside in recent months that a draw against an in-form Stoke City team is greeted with an air of disappointment.

Such is the relentless unforgiving nature of the promotion battle, anything other than a win may well be deemed as a slip-up at this stage. But if you can’t win, don’t lose. And on a night when Boro struggled to find top gear, they at least got another point on the board to close the gap to Sheffield United to three ahead of the Blades’ game at Sunderland.

Boro looked well set for an eighth successive Riverside win when Chuba Akpom put them in front with his 23rd Championship goal of the season midway through the first half. But spirited Stoke refused to roll over and struck back on the stroke of half-time to earn a deserved point and become the first team to take anything from the Riverside since Bristol City on Bonfire Night.

Had this game been played a few weeks back, it would have had the look of a routine three points for Boro against a Stoke side woefully out of form and threatening to get sucked into a relegation fight. But the Potters have found some form in recent weeks and headed for Teesside on the back of impressive wins against play-off hopefuls Sunderland and Blackburn. They were impressive.

It was the first midweek game at the Riverside in five months and the quick turnaround after the long trip back from Swansea perhaps explained why Boro didn’t quite look as imperious as they have done in recent weeks. But Stoke also deserve credit. They’re awkward opponents, as the Black Cats recently discovered.

Boro were bright enough early on. In the technical area, Carrick applauded Cameron Archer when the tireless striker pressed the Stoke defence into a sloppy mistake after just three minutes. Centre-half Ben Wilmot looked nervous – understandable considering he was trying to shackle the Championship’s second best attack – and he inadvertently teed up a glorious early chance for Akpom when he lost control of the ball just outside his own box, the Championship’s top scorer surprisingly letting him off the hook when he dragged his shot wide.

Stoke’s attackers have been useful themselves in the last couple of weeks, scoring eight goals in the two games before the Boro trip, and they offered a glimpse of their capabilities when they carved out an early opening for Ki-Jana Hoever, who fired just wide when he should have at least tested Zack Steffen.

Akpom went even closer for Boro moments later when a curling shot from the edge of the area cannoned back off the crossbar, before Wilmot made up for his early errors when he dived into a goal-saving block to deny Riley McGree.

The move that led to the opening goal, midway through the first half, was started and finished by Akpom. He dispossessed Ben Pearson in the centre-circle, with the Stoke midfielder going down clutching his face. Referee Craig Pawson waved play on and Boro took full advantage, McGree playing in Akpom, who swept the ball into the bottom corner.

Had it not been for the brilliance of visiting keeper Jack Bonham, Boro would have soon had a second. After a Boro corner was only cleared as far as Ryan Giles on the edge of the box, the wing-back lifted it back into the danger area and Archer’s looping header was clawed away at full stretch.

Stoke, though, responded well to falling behind. They wanted a penalty when captain Josh Laurent went down under the challenge of Aaron Ramsey in the box, and although those claims were waved away the Potters were level on the stroke of half-time. A crossfield ball caught out Giles and allowed Hoever to drive into the box unchallenged and slide the ball beyond Steffen, who should have done better.

Stoke weren’t content with their lot after levelling and were the brighter and more positive of the two teams early in the second half. The visitors had almost 60% of possession in the first 10 minutes after the restart, with Carrick urging his players to push up and increase the intensity.

Carrick attempted to freshen things up just after the hour mark, introducing Marcus Forss and Dan Barlaser from the bench, but it was Stoke who went closest when the impressive Will Smallbone lashed a strike from distance just wide.

Boro had a glorious chance to win it late on when Akpom glanced a Barlaser free-kick into the path of McNair, but the defender steered his effort just wide.