Ipswich 0-0 Burton: Brewers end Championship losing run with point

Ipswich missed the chance to catch up with the chasing pack in the Sky Bet Championship with a dismal 0-0 draw against bottom club Burton.

Former Tractor Boys striker Darren Bent had the best chance of the game for the visitors in front of the lowest attendance of the season at Portman Road - 13,815 - while Burton end a run losing streak of five games in the league.

The Brewers had a penalty appeal waved away by referee David Webb when the ball struck Jonas Knudsen following a shot by Bent.

In the 12th minute, a smart shot from just outside the penalty area by Burton striker Lloyd Dyer went narrowly over the crossbar.

Play was then held up in the 18th minute for treatment to Albion defender Tom Naylor, who suffered a head injury following an aerial challenge with Joe Garner and Callum Connolly.

Nathan Dyer became the first player to go into the referee's notebook following a tug on the shirt of Grant Ward in the 26th minute as play became disjointed, then six minutes later a shot from Martin Samuelsen went high and wide.

Burton's Jamie Allen had a clear shot at goal from outside the penalty area in the 38th minute but the ball went over the bar.

Ipswich pressed the Burton goal in the opening minutes of the second half bringing the home crowd alive, but in the 56th minute the visitors had a glorious chance to take the lead, when Bent was sent clear on goal but his shot was saved by Ipswich goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski.

On the hour mark, Ipswich made a double substitution with Grant Ward and Connolly being replaced by January transfer signings Stephen Gleeson and Mustapha Carayol.

It was Carayol who won a free-kick just outside the right-hand corner of the penalty area in the 62nd minute which was fed to Martyn Waghorn by Cole Skuse and his powerful shot went just wide of the left-hand upright.

Carayol brought the biggest cheer of the match with 10 minutes remaining when his 35-yard shot had Albion keeper Stephen Bywater scrambling to his left to see the ball go narrowly wide.

A corner from Albion resulted in a fine save from Bialkowski and as the referee blew the whistle to end the game as there were loud boos from the home crowd.

The managers

Mick McCarthy: "They kept going and a lesser together committed bunch of lads could have been beaten. We have not played well and they [Burton] have done well. It's probably the worst game here all season. It was tough and maybe the opposition had a bearing on that.

"I thought they played well but at the end of it you make sure you don't get beaten. We did not play well at all it was a tough game and they made it really hard for us. Nigel's team acquitted themselves well and you have to give some credit to them. We were disappointing, it was a poor performance by us."

Nigel Clough: "It's two points dropped and the performance deserved the three points. I thought our performance against Aston Villa last week deserved something and to play as well as we did in two games and only get one point is very harsh on us but it was nice to keep a clean sheet."