Rising star James Henry went from hero to villain for Reading by scoring twice and then missing from the spot as Stoke advanced to the Carling Cup fourth round following a tense penalty shoot-out at the Britannia Stadium.
The Reading-born midfielder, 19, twice equalized for his home-town club in normal time after finding the net in the previous two rounds against Dagenham and Luton.
His penalty on the stroke of half-time canceled out Vincent Pericard's ninth-minute opener and he then produced a sublime low shot to restore parity in the 75th minute after Mamady Sidibe headed Stoke into a 50th-minute lead.
That took the tie into extra-time and, after neither side could fashion a winning goal, the contest was settled on spot-kicks and it was the Potters who emerged victorious.
Ricardo Fuller, Liam Lawrence, Glenn Whelan and Pericard all found the net for Stoke, whose only miss came from Lewis Buxton.
And although Andre Bikey, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Shane Long netted for the Royals, Henry saw his effort saved by Steve Simonsen and Leroy Lita put the visitors' fifth penalty over the crossbar to hand Stoke a place in the last 16.
Coppell made clear where he places the competition on his list of priorities this season by fielding a team of fringe players.
Of the side that drew 2-2 in controversial fashion at Watford on Saturday, only Bikey was handed a place in the starting line-up at the Britannia Stadium.
Potters manager Tony Pulis also made sweeping changes, with eight alterations to the side that gained a creditable goalless draw against Liverpool on Saturday.
Danny Higginbotham, Lawrence and Sidibe were the only survivors from the Anfield stalemate but Stoke took control in the ninth minute thanks to a combination of aerial aggression and inept defending.
Lawrence swung in a dangerous corner from the left flank and Pericard showed far greater desire than any Reading player to plant a firm header past stand-in goalkeeper Adam Federici.
Royals midfielder Bobby Convey then thrashed a vicious 25-yard strike into Simonsen's midriff in the 18th minute but seconds later Stoke almost doubled their advantage.
Federici failed to deal with a high bouncing ball as he challenged Sidibe and the ball dropped to Pericard 12 yards from goal.
He struck a first-time shot but his effort was blocked and Reading survived.
Reading had created little but equalized out of the blue on the stroke of half-time when Bikey went down under a challenge from Higginbotham and Henry converted coolly from the penalty spot.
Stoke needed only five minutes of the second half to regain their lead and that it came from another set-piece was no surprise to anyone.
Lawrence was again the architect, flighting in another dangerous delivery from the right flank that found its way to Whelan.
The midfielder's shot was blocked and ricocheted into the path of Sidibe, who showed a predatory instinct to lash the ball into the net left-footed from around eight yards.
Reading threatened to respond on the counter-attack when a sweeping move cut Stoke to pieces down the right flank and culminated with Brynjar Gunnarsson's low shot being pushed out by Simonsen and straight to Kalifa Cisse.
Cisse's shot from 18 yards was awful and flew high over Simonsen's bar and into a stand sparsely populated by Reading supporters.
Whelan struck from distance shortly after the hour mark after Lawrence's clever short free-kick found him unmarked but although the uncertain Federici spilled the ball, no Potters player was on hand to tuck away the rebound.
Yet Reading continued to probe as the game wore on and Long's neat lay-off in the 75th minute allowed Henry to stride forward and hit a low left-foot shot into the back of the net from 20 yards.
Lita was then guilty of one of the worst misses of this or any other season moments later when he inexplicably headed Henry's right-wing cross wide from barely a yard out.
Pericard's towering header drew a fine one-handed save from Federici at the other end to take the tie into extra-time, where Scott Golbourne's header was repelled by Simonsen and Potters substitute Fuller volleyed against a post.
That ensured the tie would be decided by the lottery of a penalty shoot-out and Stoke scored four of their five spot-kicks while Reading could only convert three to ensure they headed home empty-handed.
