Stoke manager Tony Pulis fumed at the assistant referee after West Brom's Carlos Vela scored a late equaliser in their 1-1 draw in the Premier League.

Two Baggies players looked offside before Vela slotted in to cancel out Rory Delap's 53rd-minute opener.

"It is offside. It is a very poor decision by the linesman," Pulis said. "If he can't get that right, what is he doing officiating at our level?

"When he's looking down the line that close, he has got to get them right."

But Pulis admitted his side, who are aiming to finish in the top half of the table in the top flight for the first time since 1975, were off-form.

"We did not play well. That is as poor as we have played all season," he said. "But looking at their goal, it's a shocking decision. We'll just get on with it. Our players made bad decisions, too."

Baggies manager Roy Hodgson conceded his side may have been fortunate with their goal but believed he should have earned his first win since taking over at the Hawthorns earlier this month.

"I thought we did enough to get all three points," said the former Liverpool boss, who saw Stoke keeper Asmir Begovic make four superb saves to deny his team the winner in the closing stages of injury time.

"After the way we went 1-0 down from a corner - which is not unusual here - I was very pleased with the response of the players.

"I thought they not only kept going but they took over the game for large periods and we created some good opportunities and fortunately one of them counted.

"There were a couple of other occasions when we could have maybe got the winner but let's not be too greedy, let's be pleased that we have at least got a good point here."

Hodgson has now presided over two draws from his first two matches at the helm but acknowledged West Brom have a tough task to secure their top-flight status.

West Brom are only one point above Wolves, who are level on points with West Ham, while bottom club Wigan are only point further back.

"It's so tight at the bottom," said Hodgson. "We need to start getting a few wins but if we continue to show that level of commitment coupled with our ability we are hoping we have enough."

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