Leicester's Kasper Schmeichel went from peacemaker to motivational speaker at Stoke as Daniel Amartey revealed it was the goalkeeper's half-time address that sparked their second-half comeback.
The Foxes were reeling at the interval when 2-0 down having seen Jamie Vardy contentiously dismissed, a debatable penalty awarded against Danny Simpson and five of their players booked by referee Craig Pawson.
Their perceived sense of injustice even extended to the usually unflappable Claudio Ranieri, who needed to be dragged away from Pawson by Schmeichel after expressing his frustration on the pitch at half-time.
Having calmed his boss, goalkeeper Schmeichel, back after missing eight games with a fractured hand, then rallied his team-mates at the break before the 10-man Foxes claimed an unlikely point thanks to goals from Leonardo Ulloa and Amartey.