An injury time penalty from Alan Lee against one of his old clubs salvaged a point for the Blues against Burnley. Profligate Town should have had the game sewn up before Kyle Lafferty's goal four minutes from time but after Gifton Noel-Williams's handball, Lee saved the Blues from another defeat.

As predicted, Matt Richards switched to left-back in place of the suspended Dan Harding, while Gavin Williams came into the side on the left of midfield for his first start since his groin operation. Sylvain Legwinski returned to the centre of midfield for the suspended Simon Walton.

Lee headed the first chance of the game wide of the Burnley goal, before Gifton Noel-Williams nodded down a Steve Jones cross inside the Town area and Richard Naylor cleared.

On 11 Northern Ireland international Kyle Lafferty shot at Lewis Price's near post from a tight angle on the left, but gave the Town keeper few problems. Several of his team-mates felt he ought to have crossed instead.

Former Blue John McGreal won the ball from a corner soon after but his effort flew straight to Price. Jones shot over the bar as most of the goalmouth action came from the Clarets.

On 24 Lafferty failed to score when it appeared impossible to miss, getting a touch on Jones's cross from the left at the near post but somehow deflecting the ball across goal, where Wade Elliott's follow-up at the far post was blocked by Jason De Vos.

The Portman Road pitch was cutting up more and more as the game wore on and was looking far worse than at any stage this season, with awkward bounces regular occurrences.

Owen Garvan's shot from a deep Town corner was blocked, prior to Jones hitting the Town bar, however, Noel-Williams had handled the ball earlier in the build up and a goal wouldn't have counted.

The Blues were starting to impose themselves on the game more as the half wore on and on 31 a sharp Garvan break led to Clarke forcing a fine save from Burnley's Danny Coyne, like Lewis Price a full Welsh international keeper. From the resultant corner, Coyne dived to his left to save Garvan's header. Soon after, Williams and Roberts swapped flanks.

Just before the break, Clarke worked hard to find himself space for a shot on the edge but Coyne was equal to his effort.

It had hardly been a pulsating half with neither side creating too much in the way of clear-cut chances and the poor surface perhaps to blame for the lack of slick football. As at Barnsley last week, half-time couldn't come soon enough.

The Blues started the second half brightly, Matt Richards sending in a cross from the left to Legwinski at the far post, Coyne pulling off another fine save from the Frenchman's header.

Alan Lee should have put Town in front in the 52nd minute with the chance of the game up to then. Clever work from Garvan and Clarke put the Irish international through but the ex-Claret shot well wide as he bore down on goal.

There was a scare for the Blues at the other end just after the hour mark when McGreal headed a corner into the danger area and Noel-Williams headed over from the edge of the six-yard box.

On 67 Legwinski headed a Roberts freekick from the right over at the near post, before Jaime Peters took over from slightly under par Billy Clarke, as the Blues switched to 4-3-3 with the Canadian youngster on the right and Roberts on the left.

McGreal received a yellow card for a foul on Gavin Williams, then Wayne Thomas added his name to referee Keith Hill's book for a late tackle on Roberts.

Steve Jones's shot was easy for Price, then a rare Alex Bruce foray forward saw the former Birmingham man send a ball across the six-yard box but it was cleared before a Town player could get a touch.

Danny Haynes replaced Williams, who had shown some neat touches but was tiring after his six-week absence, the derby goal hero joining Alan Lee up front as the Blues moved back to a front two.

Jaime Peters headed a Richards cross from the left over the bar from close in, the latest in a succession of missed opportunities the Blues would rue when Burnley went ahead with their first second half shot on goal. Kyle Lafferty was allowed to bring the ball forward from midfield before lashing a low drive from 25 yards out beyond Lewis Price and into the net.

Those Town fans who left early after watching Town concede another late goal would miss the most exciting spell of an otherwise dull game.

As the Blues went about looking for an equaliser, Roberts sent a low ball skidding across the Burnley six-yard box which was turned out of play at the far post. From the corner, Gifton Noel-Williams pawed the ball away amongst a crowd of players, referee Keith Hill pointing immediately to the spot.

Despite Danny Haynes's protestations, Alan Lee was given the responsibility of taking the spotkick and, after some excessive and unpunished timewasting from the visitors, the former Burnley striker slipped to ball to the right of Coyne and into the net for his ninth of the season and his first since his hat-trick against Luton in October.

With five minutes of injury time signalled, a Town winner didn't appear to be out of the question, but referee Hill played significantly fewer additional minutes than had been indicated and Coyne wasn't tested. The Blues only serious attack broke down with Lee claiming he had been pulled back by McGreal.

Town really should have been ahead well before conceding yet another late goal, a number of chances having gone begging. Questions are likely to be asked about the amount of space given to Lafferty on the goal, although Jim Magilton will presumably be relieved that for once his side didn't concede from a set-piece and also that there were no more cards added to the season's total. Defensively, the goal aside, the Blues were probably more organised than in recent weeks.

Perhaps the biggest concern was the Portman Road pitch, which can rarely have been in a worse state since the mid-nineties. The exceptionally hot weather after the surface was relaid in the summer is apparently as much to blame for the current condition as the flooding which caused salt to enter the water table. With the worst of the winter weather to come, it is likely to get worse before it gets any better and is hardly an aid to Town's passing football.

Town: Price, Bruce, Richards, De Vos, Naylor, Legwinski, Garvan, Williams (Haynes 79), Roberts, Lee, Clarke (Peters 67). Unused: Supple, Sito, Macken. Att: 20,254.

Photo: Action Images

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