Warhurst uses wiles to pull Stoke out of the mire

Stoke City 2 Rotherham United

Stoke City hauled themselves out of the First Division's bottom three by stretching their unbeaten run to seven matches at the Britannia Stadium, where Paul Warhurst underlined the value of battle-hardened experience in helping the Potteries side to three potentially priceless points.

The 33-year-old midfielder, on loan from the Premiership strugglers Bolton Wanderers, headed Stoke ahead after 21 minutes and played a key role in setting up Andy Cooke for a second. The second-half dismissal of John Mullin did not help Rotherham's cause.

Warhurst has been only a marginal figure in Bolton's quest to stay in the top flight but the know-how gained from previous relegation dogfights enabled him to show his authority in only his second appearance alongside his new team-mates. His steadying influence and wise distribution put Stoke in charge against the Yorkshire side, whose season has fallen away to the extent that they have won only once in the last nine matches. By way of a bonus, Warhurst also offered a solution to Stoke's chronic goal-scoring problems, finding the net with a looping header after the goalkeeper Mike Pollitt failed to claim the ball from Lewis Neal's corner.

Having laboured through four goalless draws in their previous five matches, Stoke struck a second six minutes before half-time when Warhurst picked out Cooke with a simple but effective pass, to which the striker responded by sending a superlative dipping shot over the head of Pollitt from almost 30 yards.

Stoke, who leapfrog Brighton into 21st place, could have had more goals. Pollitt kept out shots from Warhurst and Peter Hoekstra in the first half. Later, Chris Swailes cleared off the line from Chris Greenacre.

Rotherham were perhaps unlucky not to gain some reward. Shaun Barker and Alan Lee both hit the woodwork and Stoke's on-loan goalkeeper Mark Crossley produced a stunning save to deny Guy Branston. But there was no way back for them after Mullin aimed a punch at Wayne Thomas right in front of referee George Cain, who had no choice but to show the red card.

Stoke City (4-4-2): Crossley; Thomas, Handyside, Shtanyuk, Hall; Hoekstra, Gunnarsson, Warhurst, Neal (Clarke, 89); Greenacre, Cooke. Substitutes not used: Banks (gk), Gudjonsson, Mills, Williams.

Rotherham United (4-4-2): Pollitt; S Barker, Swailes, Branston, McIntosh; Sedgwick (Warne, 58), Farrelly, Daws, Mullins; Lee (R Barker ,77), Robins (Byfield, 77). Substitutes not used: Hurst, Woodhouse.

Referee: G Cain (Bootle).