Ryan Shawcross believes Stoke City ’s new signings are taking the club in a new direction – starting with an 'unexpected' comeback against his old boss.

All pundits were predicting a game of few chances and fewer goals as Stoke made the short trip to West Brom, where they have lost on their previous two visits since Pulis took charge.

Shawcross admits many were probably writing them off again when the hosts took a second half lead through Jay Rodriguez.

But the captain was pleased with the way they responded and eventually got back on level terms.

The equalising goal started when Kurt Zouma picked up the ball from Jack Butland and made a driving run past the half-way line before Ramadan Sobhi dinked in a cross, which Ahmed Hegazi fluffled, and Peter Crouch gleefully touched home.

“You know what you’re going to get from Tony Pulis teams,” he said.

“They are very difficult places to visit and after they took the lead you would expect us from previous history not to come back. For us to do that with that fight and spirit was fantastic. I think it shows the new direction the squad is going in.”

Pulis remains unbeaten against Stoke since he left – and going back to 1992/93, Bournemouth and the third tier if you are counting the days before he joined the club.

Baggies boss Tony Pulis make a point during his side's draw with Stoke City at The Hawthorns. (Image: PA Wire)

Now his record since 2013 reads five wins and two draws but he rarely looked like coming out on top in this one before Rodriguez slipped between Geoff Cameron and Zouma to nod home a neat cross from Nyom.

Shawcross said: “At times in the past we’ve been caught out. We’ve been too expansive and we’ve been sucked into their game plan.

“This time we talked a lot in the week about what we were going to do, how we were going to stop them playing and hopefully get some chances. We had a few half chances then Crouchy comes on, causes a bit of trouble and gets the goal.”

The 29-year-old says the team are still kicking themselves for the goal they conceded – but insists they should also take positives from the way they defended in the other 89 minutes, including nullifying Albion’s threat at set pieces.

He said: “I thought we defended brilliantly apart from one instance. We defended set pieces great again so we were really disappointed that the one chance they did get, they made count.”

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Shawcross sparked a storm between the two clubs with his post-match interview in the same fixture last season, with Pulis leaving a furious and notorious answer phone message suggesting he sounded like a loser.

It was not the turnaround the defender had hoped but a point is not to be sniffed at going into the international break.

He said: “I thought we were the team going for the win throughout the game. To come away with a point from a very tough place is great. I’m looking forward to (Manchester) United now and getting some more points.”