Peter Odemwingie has given Stoke City a half-time lead against Fulham at the Britannia Stadium.

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The first real chance of the contest fell to the returning Ousamma Assaidi, who sent his shot over the crossbar after being picked out by Steven N'Zonzi inside the box.

Odemwingie was the next Stoke player to try his luck, dropping deep to collect the ball before unleashing a shot which drifted narrowly wide of the target on 16 minutes.

David Stockdale was called into action on two separate occasions to deny Steven Ireland and Assaidi, before Odemwingie eventually found a way through to make it 1-0 after 39 minutes.

The striker latched on to Ireland's deflected shot before tapping home from close range to give his side the lead.