Pieters takes blame for Palace equaliser

Stoke initially took the lead courtesy of a fine solo goal from Xherdan Shaqiri after 56 minutes but their lead only lasted three minutes.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek was able to tap in unchallenged at the far post when Andros Townsend cross evaded everyone in the visitors' defence and they went on to secure the victory in dramatic fashion as Mamadou Sakho scored an injury time winner.

Pieters insists he should have done better to stop the first goal and told the club's official website: "We are a team and we win, draw and lose together, but the first goal was from my mistake and I am honest enough to hold my hands up and acknowledge that.

"We, of course, had enough chances to score more goals, and even though we wouldn't have been happy with the draw we could have accepted it: we simply can't accept this loss."

The defeat leaves Stoke just three points clear of the relegation zone but they can turn things around with a couple of home games coming up in quick succession.

"The positive thing with the Premier League is that there is always another game around the corner, and thankfully we have two at home, the first being on Wednesday (against Liverpool)," Pieters added

"That is a huge game for us because we need to show our fans that we believe in ourselves, that we believe in the group and we believe in the manager.

"Allowing teams back into games is something the gaffer has spoken about, and the boys have mentioned as a group because on Monday [against Brighton] we also let the lead slip twice."