Shrewsbury Town of Sky Bet League One held local rivals Stoke City to a 1-1 draw in an evenly-contested clash at Montgomery Waters Meadow
An Ollie Norburn penalty for the home side saw them head into the break in the ascendancy, however a triple substitution from City boss Gary Rowett was the catalyst in his side finding an equaliser as Peter Crouch secured a replay for his team.
Changes aplenty for cup clash
The hosts were missing top scorer Fejiri Okenabirhie due to suspension, Alex Gilliead taking his place.
Also missing out was strike partner Aaron Amadi-Holloway, with Lenell John-Lewis preferred to the Welshman as manager Sam Ricketts reverted to the 4-5-1 formation that yielded a hard-earned point away to Sunderland on December 29.
The big team news for the visitors was the absence of central midfielder Ryan Woods due to illness, the diminutive schemer robbed of the chance to face the team of which he came through the academy.
He also earned over a million pounds for from his recently completed permanent transfer to the Potteries - in a competitive match for the first time.
Woods' exclusion was one of five changes made by under-pressure boss Gary Rowett as he tweaked his line-up to a 4-4-2 from the 4-3-3 that has recently been deployed.
The other alterations made by Rowett saw Jack Butland replaced in goal by Adam Federici, Tom Edwards take the place of Cuco Martina at right-back. Also, Erik Pieters deputised for the ill Ryan Shawcross, Sam Clucas stepped in for Woods and Saido Berahino come in for Joe Allen.
Quiet first half sees League One side take the lead
Neither side got on top in a tepid opening half an hour, with chances created at nil.
A serious injury to John-Lewis, combined with a hatful of offsides, ensured that the game did not get into any sort of meaningful rhythm, with quality on the ball in the final third missing from both teams early on.
It took the Championship side half an hour to begin to assert any of their higher-level quality with the ball, as they looked to play quick, incisive one-twos between the Town defence.
Tom Ince was presented with the best chance following such football as he burst through the home backline to see himself in on goal.
His right-footed shot was superbly tipped away by Steve Arnold low to his right-hand side, with Luke Waterfall completing the job as he cleared the ball off the line as it trickled towards the net.
As the half wore on the visitors began to look more assured, yet they could not make their possession count.
The most threatening move culminated in an Edwards cross finding an unmarked McLean at the back post eight yards out; he could, however, only skew his side-footed volley miles over the crossbar when he should have hit the target at a bare minimum.
Yet, as the half drew to a close, the deadlock was broken from the penalty spot.
A scramble in the area following a Greg Docherty free-kick was not cleared by City and saw the ball fall to substitute Amadi-Holloway.
He was felled from behind by the retreating Edwards - and referee Mr Webb had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
Norburn assumed responsibility, and dutifully sent Federici the wrong way as he convincingly smashed home to send his side in happy at the break.
Potters hit back after the break
Rowett's men had clearly come out with a point to prove in the second half as they looked to drag themselves back into the match.
They fashioned a number of early corners - all of which came to nothing - whilst Ince, Peter Etebo and Benik Afobe all failed to test Arnold with left-footed attempts from outside the area.
For all their early dominance they should however have found themselves two goals down.
A counter attack down the right saw Docherty chip in a sumptuous cross onto the head of Amadi-Holloway ten yards out. With nobody within three yards of him, the big striker somehow put his header over the bar.
With 73 minutes on the clock Rowett opted to twist, making a triple substitution in the hope of finding an equaliser: Afobe, Berahino and McLean all made way, with forwards Crouch, Tyrese Campbell and Mame Biram Diouf entering the fray - and all three made an immediate impact to produce an equaliser.
The ball soon found its way to Campbell on the left wing, and with a blistering burst of pace he beat his man and reached the byline.
His ball across goal was flicked on by Diouf before reaching Crouch, who beat Ryan Haynes in a tussle as he scrambled it into the net in front of a gleeful away end.
From there on in chances were once again at a premium, with both teams having to settle for a replay at the Bet365 Stadium in just over a weeks time.