Ricardo Fuller scored a deserved equaliser as the Potters cancelled out an opening goal by Shaun Wright-Phillips after sustaining three injury blows during the game.
Barely a dozen minutes of the tie had elapsed when Stephen Ireland's deceptive chipped pass was chased down by Wright-Phillips, who beat the Stoke offside trap.
Thomas Sorensen opted to sprint off his line to clear the loose ball but the diminutive City winger dinked the ball past the Stoke keeper and followed it towards the empty net with Ryan Shawcross in tow.
The ball was going to bounce just wide, however, rather than shield the ball out of play, Shawcross opted for the hooked clearance but his attempt to stretch out a leg failed miserably as he swung at and missed the ball.
Roars of laughter from nearby City fans turned to cheers when they realised that the bouncing ball had come off the defender's head as he fell and had fallen nicely for Wright-Phillips to control and tap in from a yard out with his left foot despite the presence of Robert Huth, who slid into the goalmouth trying to clear it.
England manager Fabio Capello was at Eastlands to watch several players on show from both sides but Matthew Etherington had to limp off with a twisted knee shortly after Wright-Phillips' goal.
His replacement, Liam Lawrence, had a goalbound effort blocked by Wayne Bridge but he himself succumbed to a knee injury and had to be replaced by Rory Delap before the end of the first half.
City ought to have made more of a couple of free-kick chances by Martin Petrov but tactical switches by Tony Pulis stabilised the ship despite some of them being enforced changes due to injuries.
Andy Wilkinson was clearly struggling early in the second half and completed a trio of enforced substitutions by Tony Pulis, before super-sub Delap turned up with one of his trademark long throws into the penalty area which allowed Fuller to take full advantage of the confusion to rise unmarked and head firmly into the back of Shay Given's goal for a deserved equaliser.
Both sides probed for a winner and Gareth Barry forced Sorensen into a fingertip save from his header, while Wright-Phillips hit the side-netting late on.
But neither side could break the deadlock and will play again at the Britannia Stadium just days after meeting at the same venue in the Premier League.