Jon Walters scored his first goal for Stoke to earn his side a 1-0 win over Blackburn, which moved Tony Pulis' side up to seventh in the Premier League.
Walters, a 2.75 million pounds ($4.3 million) offseason signing from Ipswich, struck against his former club just after the break when he latched onto Matthew Etherington's expertly-judged through-ball and curled it low past Blackburn 'keeper Paul Robinson.
The lively Etherington was close to adding a second but his free kick and then an angled shot were well saved by Robinson, whose Blackburn side struggled to create chances with Mame Diouf playing on his own up front.
Stoke had conceded the first goal in each of its previous six games in the Premier League but a first clean sheet of the season saw Pulis' team stretch its unbeaten run to four games.
The hosts had been unlucky not to take the lead in the first half, but Rory Delap's long throw was deflected onto the post in the 10th minute and Robinson reacted to keep out Walters' follow-up effort.
Blackburn's best chance of the game came after 15 minutes when Brett Emerton beat Stoke goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen with a chip but Ryan Shawcross cleared off the line.
