Town’s play-off push looks all but over following a 0-0 home draw with relegation-threatened Charlton Athletic. Ben Pringle came closest for the Blues in the first half with a strike well saved by Addicks keeper Nick Pope, while Jonathan Douglas headed and then shot over in the second.

Boss Mick McCarthy named an unchanged side the same 4-3-3 system they utilised during Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Wolves with Pringle in a central midfield role ahead of Cole Skuse and Douglas with Liam Feeney on the right and Freddie Sears on the left and Brett Pitman in the middle.

Teddy Bishop returned to the bench for the first time this season, alongside David McGoldrick, who made his first appearance since mid-December as a sub late on at Molineux.

The Addicks included one-time Town schoolboys Pope in goal and Morgan Fox at left-back and ex-Blues loanee Stephen Henderson on the bench.

The visitors struck the game’s first shot in the fourth minute but Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s effort was straight at Bartosz Bialkowski.

Two minutes later, Sears seized on a loose ball on the right of the area and from a tight angle sent a low strike not too far wide of Nick Pope’s right post.

There was a big scare for the Blues on 12 when a mix-up between Bialkowski and Christophe Berra saw the keeper rush off his line as the defender looked to head it back to him from the edge of the box.

In the end, both left it and the Scotland international was able to get back to clear ahead of Yaya Sanogo before the on-loan Arsenal man could make anything of the error.

Three minutes later, Jonas Knudsen was booked for clattering into Gudmundsson late as they challenged for an aerial ball. After treatment, the Icelander was eventually replaced by Marco Motta.

Charlton threatened again in the 21st minute when Sanogo teed-up Callum Harriott on the left of the area, the former Colchester loanee hitting a low strike which Bialkowski did well to stop. Douglas was first to the loose ball but took too long to clear and was dispossessed but Sanogo’s effort was snuffed out.

Moments later, Pringle found himself some space just outside the area and hit a curling left-foot shot which looked bound for the top corner until Pope somehow got across to superbly tip the ball wide.

In the 26th minute Sears cut in from the left and hit a low shot which Pope was able to claim.

But Charlton, quick and incisive going forward, were having the better on it and almost carved their way through the Blues in the 35th minute, skipper Luke Chambers cutting out Jordan Cousins’s final pass through to Sanogo when he might have shot, before Ademola Lookman screwed wide from the edge of the box.

Three minutes before the break, with Town by now having moved to 4-4-2 with Pringle on the right and Feeney the left, a move down the Blues left saw Knudsen cross and the ball eventually fall to Sears, who looped a bouncing ball over.

On 44, after Charlton had surrendered possession in their own half, Pitman shot wide having brought the ball forward towards the edge of the box.

As the half moved into four minutes of injury time, Lookman whipped over a corner from the right and Jorge Teixeira flicked a header at the near post, which Bialkowski tipped over his bar.

Town won a late corner after Pope had punched a Knudsen long throw out, but neither side threatened again before the break.

The visitors will have gone in at half-time disappointed not to have been in front having looked the more dangerous side, particularly on the counter-attack.

Town created fewer opportunities, although Pringle would have scored but for Pope’s excellent save.

Ex-Addick Luke Varney replaced Pringle ahead of the second half with the Blues continuing in a 4-4-2 system.

Town started the half brightly and Teixeira picked up an early yellow card for pulling back Sears as he took the ball towards the area. From the resultant freekick, Chambers hit the wall.

Charlton again threatened on the break in the 50th minute and Berra made an important block from Harriott after he had been found in space on the edge of the area by Lookman.

Two minutes later, the Blues went close when Skuse stood up a cross from the right of the box but Douglas couldn’t get over it and his header looped into the stand.

On 55, Sears, now out wide on the left, cut in and skipped past a defender but saw his shot blocked. From the resultant corner, the ball fell to Douglas on the edge of the box, but the Irishman shot over.

Town were beginning to create chances more regularly and three minutes later Sears crossed from the left and Douglas laid it back to Pitman, whose low shot was saved by Pope down to his left.

As the game moved towards the hour mark, Harriott shot high and wide from a tight angle on the right.

With 26 minutes remaining McGoldrick made his entrance in place of Feeney with the crowd singing the striker’s name. Pitman moved to wide right.

Town were having most of the ball but without being able to create a chance, however, on 69 Cousins struck a powerful effort from the edge of the Blues box which Bialkowski batted away. Three minutes later, Harriott hit a low shot into the side-netting from wide on the right.

McGoldrick made his first impact on the game in the 72nd minute when his shot from the right was deflected over.

Following the corner, Douglas won the ball and fed Sears, who cut in and crossed deep but just too high for Pitman.

As the game moved towards its final 10 minutes the Blues were looking less threatening and only a brilliant double save from Bialkowski prevented the visitors from claiming the lead, first blocking from Lookman and then after Town had failed to clear from Sanogo.

In the 82nd minute Bishop made his long-awaited return to action, replacing Pitman and taking up a role behind what was now a front three of Varney, Sears and McGoldrick.

With five minutes remaining Cousins was booked for stopping Bishop from taking a quick freekick.

On 88 Varney did well to divert a corner whipped in from the left just wide of his own post from a couple of yards out.

In the final seconds of scheduled time McGoldrick brought the ball in from the left and hit a shot straight at Pope.

Neither side was able to find a goal in three minutes of injury time, in which Charlton did most of the pressing, and boos again greeted the final whistle.

A point apiece was probably a fair reflection of the game, neither team having been particularly convincing with Town’s best second-half chances both falling to Douglas, but with Bialkowski the busier of the two keepers and Charlton always the more dangerous-looking side going forwards.

The Blues have now gone 273 minutes since they last scored a goal, the second in the 2-0 victory over Blackburn last month.

Town last drew back-to-back games in December 2009 when Roy Keane's side recorded a stalemate at Bristol City and then at home to Peterborough.

A 0-0 draw was little good to either side and the play-offs now look well beyond the Blues, who are still eighth but seven points from the play-offs, while Charlton are still 23rd, seven points from safety.

Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Smith, Berra, Knudsen, Skuse, Douglas, Pringle (Varney 46), Feeney, Sears, Pitman. Subs: Gerken, Foley, Hyam, Bru, Bishop, McGoldrick.

Charlton: Pope, Solly (c), Fanni, Teixeira, Fox, Diarra, Cousins, Gudmundsson (Motta 19 (Makienok 86), Lookman, Harriott (Vetokele 74), Sanogo. Subs: Henderson, Suk-Young, Lennon, Jackson. Referee: Oliver Langford (West Midlands). Att: 17,787 (Charlton: 552).

Photo: Action Images

ChrisR added 22:32 - Apr 5 So that is just one goal from open play in the last 5 games. The side peaked in August and as been on the slide ever since. Need new management and leadership from owner just to reverse this , let alone doing better next season ....
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ShropshireBluenago09 added 22:32 - Apr 5 Kevin Foley must be p*ssed. Had a great game v Forest not played since
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Superblue95 added 22:36 - Apr 5 Missing out on the playoffs wouldn't be so bad if we put up a fight but we've managed to not score 3 games in a row against 3 poor teams when we should have been going out all guns blazing. Squad needs a huge overhaul and as Mick clearly wont change his philosophy its time for him to go aswell. Get some young players in the team and get some strikers who can score, defenders who can defend and midfielders who is actually capable of doing something other than make up the numbers

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1psw1ch added 22:36 - Apr 5 Thanks for last season Mick for getting us to the play offs and steading the ship but you can go to villa now ,,,I've a pain in me hole with this team
3

prebsa added 22:38 - Apr 5 Just awful again! We made charlton look like the ones pushing for promotion. Again we have Bart to thank for it being a clean sheet! Jonathan Douglas is the worst footballer ever and he does not deserve to wear an ITFC shirt I cannot believe how Mick picks him week in week out no matter how cr@p he plays! He did not benefit the game at all like every week! Along with him and Skuse neither of the two once looked like creating a chance for any of our forwards to even have an attempt on goal! Knudsen and Chambers again getting beaten far too easily down the flanks and what the hell was Chambers taking a free kick for in that position?, it's as if everyone at school put their hands up and said please please pick me and eventually the teacher has to let everyone have a go even the cr@p ones! Mick again picking a sub standard team with a system that just does not work. Constantly hoofing the ball and hoping it falls to our players! Mcgoldrick came on and had a bit of an effect but not enough time to make a real difference the same with Bishop. All in all this is another awful game from Mick the dinosaur and his group of merry men. The untouchables have all kept their places and because it was a clean sheet I'm sure it will be the same again on Saturday. Because as Mick likes to say there is nothing like a bad point. I now really hope Aston Villa do come calling because it really is time for change!

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EssexTractor added 22:39 - Apr 5 Tonight was truthfully abysmal Nothing that we want to have associated with Ipswich Town Football Club. Nothing like the football that we want to see. Aside from the goalkeeper no one else has can be considered as a Player of the year award. Given his low appearance total it must be him We may now dream only of excitement, of that desire to get to the ground, read the programme, look at the table, recall the goals of games before. All gone. Yes of course times have changed. Some want MM to stay , others not,but he picks the team , he has determined who the loanees should be, he is the tactician. But tactics now have hit the buffers! And unless ME has sound football advisors and deep pockets will that partnership bring anything new for 2016-17? But a club not too dissimilar in size to us have found a way. Have found or been found by a man with a true spirit of Chairmanship, with funds, not of the size of the " big four" , but with some truly sound football advisors who have found a inspirational football manager, who have unearthed talented players, who have operated as a true club on and off the pitch The name Leicester City. Would we have ever have thought it a year or so back? So if Leicester can we, but how??

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TimmyH added 22:40 - Apr 5 @Shropshire - totally agree (and he use to play for Mick at Wolves where he was a player of the season 2009)...utterly bizarre why he hasn't started, maybe he introduces deck football too much against Mick's instructions to '6-iron it' forward at 60 feet in the air!
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bluefeast added 22:40 - Apr 5 the stats don't lie , scored 2 goals in 5 games ,constantly picks the side that delivers that stat ,can't or won't allow players to express themselves ,they play with fear ,no confidence and look sub standard. MM is an absolute killer of craft and guile and prefers lumps without skill ,surely he can see the issues but will not address them. Therefore he has taken us as far as we can go

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runaround added 22:42 - Apr 5 Another poor performance & result. We improved second half slightly once Varney,McGoldrick & Bishop came on but the latter 2 were clearly lacking match practice. Douglas gave one of the worst performances I have seen from a Town player in 35 years of watching, Sears did a great Lee Martin impression by constantly running into trouble & picking the wrong option, Chambers, Berra & Pitman were awful while Feeney & Skuse weren't much better. Mick seems to have totally lost the plot & has played the team out of form & fitness. We look like a relegation side! Something needs to change, play players in their best positions, pass the ball through midfield, get some forward movement & stop worrying about the opposition. I'm no longer angry, just sad how bad it's got so quickly. My only hope is we have something to shout about before the end of the season. Perhaps now the season is over the pressure might be off & even Mr Pragmatic might loosen the shackles, blood some youngsters & give us something good to remember end of the season during the summer. I usually hate it when the season ends but for me, for first time in my 35 years of going to games, I can't wait for it to end!

13

bluey123 added 22:42 - Apr 5 Charlton are a lot better that there position says , Dougie priceless , Chambers different class at RB and Pitman excellent these are McCarthys sayings what an idiot get rid of him McCarthy OUT
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prebbs007 added 22:42 - Apr 5 Are you still here McCarthy ??? Plse foxtrot oscar to villa asap. You've stayed with your favourites all season with no change. We started as an attacking force and then list 5-1 at Reading and you revert to type and our season finished that night.....You play every game not to lose !! We have no further interest in your dross hoofball and dross players so do us a favour and get lost and take Gerjen, Chambers, Smith, Knudsen, Skuse, Douglas, Hyam, Tabb, Toure, Coke, Murphy, Varney, Malyrszk, Yowerth & Evans with you. This club will never get back to the premier league with any of those at Portman Road !!! Worst football ever at Ipswich. Zero goals against Rotherham Wolves & Charlton. What a joke !!! Sad sad days. Anyone who is happy with this cr&p is a total idiot and can do one with the northern dinosaur !!!

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Tractastic added 22:49 - Apr 5 Villa please believe the McCarthy hype and offer him a deal he can't refuse..
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essexbluey added 22:50 - Apr 5 Charlton should have won to be honest
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runaround added 22:50 - Apr 5 And another thing, it really does feel as though Mick has had enough too. He definitely seems to have lost his mojo as have the majority of the players. If he doesn't have the heart or belief in it anymore then it's best for both parties if he leaves. I know he isn't a quitter but sometimes it is best & I plus some other fans I talk to think that is increasingly the likely outcome

9

Notts_tractor added 22:51 - Apr 5 So you're playing the second bottom team in the division in a game you have to win in order to stay vaguely in touch with the play off places. It's season ticket renewal time, there's been criticism of recent negative home performances, and the team really needs to start to entertain, encourage people to renew, or attract new ones. Seems the ideal time to throw off the shackles, go all out and attack and throw in some young,hungry players. Not if you're Mick McCarthy. No, you pick the same team that has failed to score in the last two games, you match the formation of the World-beating opposition and leave your most creative players either on the bench or out of the squad altogether. Result: a 0-0 draw, a third game in a row without a goal, play-offs now out of sight, and hundreds probably deciding against renewal. There's obviously some logic to this thinking, but I just can't figure what it is.

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peteswindon added 22:52 - Apr 5 Funny MM plays all the players you all want. but still its the same stupid comments, If you can't support the team then just do one.
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NorthFar added 22:53 - Apr 5 Sorry, I can't watch this garbage anymore. It's basically sadomachism. My interest mildly peaked when I wondered if Douglas had won a competition to appear in a Town shirt. I will be back Saturday only because my daughter was looking forward to a pie. They are the best thing about the whole experience really. I'd recommend one. Let's look for positives people. Three games left... three pies.

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bonamassablue added 22:56 - Apr 5 Struggling.... Struggling to understand team selection and tactics The team is struggling Struggling to understand if it is MM or ME who are fault Struggling to understand if MM was at the same game as me tonight (after his comments on bbc radio Suffolk just now) Struggling for anything else to say
8

StochesStotasBlewe added 22:58 - Apr 5 Insomniacs of the world, get down to Portman Road & watch that shoite. Hurry & sign up now, we,ll have you sleeping like a baby, 99% satisfaction from many long term sufferers of this awful affliction. Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. This offer is only applicable while dinosaur Mick is manager so get your season ticket now. Call 0000 000000 now to reserve your ticket to slumberland.

12

rolly added 22:59 - Apr 5 That was the worst performance under Mick imo. No midfield whatsoever and strikers both poor! If we'd had murph for these last two, things might of been different (and we'd be just one point off) but no excuses!! Feeney and Pringle offered nothing, which was dissapointing! Good to see bishop and mcgoldrick back, just wish it had been 10 games ago! Would love to have Charltons wingers at town, they were the highlight of the game for me. Finally, good save by Bart at the end, we'd be a lot more then 7 points off top 6 without him these last few months that's for sure!!

5

Minneapolis_ITFC added 23:00 - Apr 5 It's too bad I don't get to see games such as this as a live witness or Town games for the most part, as could offer a much better opinion, but follow each game as it comes and ascertain enough information to be content with due comment. Here goes : First and foremost the score. Why- WHY - can't we overcome teams that occupy places in the relegation zone ? Not just today, but three or four other instances of this thus far this season. I don't know if 'irritating' is the operative word here, but something stinks. Fair enough along the way this season we've seen some promising scores and performances but for the most part it's been a trail of sub-standard results and to put not too fine a point on it, players that don't seem to give two fu-ks about where we find ourselves at end of season. The McCarthy issue will run and run, and while I've offered defense in the past the thought of another two or three years of this individual overseeing first team affairs is a concern. Evans must take his share of blame for not spending and adding suitable reinforcements, but it's with the manager who picks the team, chooses tactics and sets out to provide the right results that will engineer a progress towards the promotion places. I'm not going to stand out (directly on the back of this latest score) and suggest McCarthy types out his resume tomorrow and seeks employment elsewhere - as I believe (fool that I am) he can do something next season and redeem himself for this sorry-assed campaign we are having to endure. Why I don't just come straight out and demand his resignation I don't know. Maybe I still cling to the belief he's the right name for the job or that we can go somewhere next year under his leadership. Once again I don't know why I'm offering any level of defense, there's just an unspoken belief that he's outstayed his welcome and we could do so much better with a name with new ideas. In the last 10 years we've had levels of mediocrity not seen since Duncan. One league cup semi-final and a play-off finish in 6th position, not to mention no progress beyond the FA Cup fifth round if correct. It's a sorry statistic and while realize we're not Bayern Munich or expecting honors each and every year, it's been in so many words, a lost decade. So what next for our once proud club ? Well with McCarthy as team coach not holding out for much. And another potential three years to come with this name ? Say once again next year may be different and see an improvement but realistically, so long as Evans and McCarthy remain in position, Ipswich Town Football Club are - in so many words - a ship at sea carrying a commodity, that will never reach any port.

6

rolly added 23:01 - Apr 5 Also how bad was Sanogo, God knows what Wenger saw in him!
2

TractorBoy666 added 23:03 - Apr 5 The thing that summed up our season tonight was Chambers taking a free kick on the edge of the box, how is that alone acceptable? As for the performance I can't say it worse than Rotherham, although it could have been if Charlton were a good side and took their chances but I guess they are a good side aren't they Mick?! I normally always renew my season ticket even after a disappointing campaign but there is no way on earth I am paying to watch that dire football again next season until Mick goes and takes Douglas with him. The quality of football is actually laughable, and to think these players are professionals too. Ian Milne is yet another Clegg, Evans is not interested quite clearly and we have hoof ball to top things off!

11

prebsa added 23:06 - Apr 5 HarryS_H You are just on here to wind people up. Stop taking the p1ss and get in the real world!
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weevil added 23:11 - Apr 5 Remember when Ipswich used to play passing, eye-pleasing football? No I can't either. Please MM, you are a fantastic man-manager but we need more energy from our team. The comoadre is plain to see, we have a great bunch of lads, but they need to express themselves properly. More creativity in midfield has been crying out for over a season, we've had plenty of opportunities to buy. You have a talent for finding great bargains. Just look at Sears and Mings. Prove they weren't flukes over summer.

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