Blackburn Rovers 0-0 Ipswich Town - Match Report Saturday, 15th Oct 2016 16:55 Town’s goalless and winless run stretched to five games as their visit to Blackburn ended in a 0-0 draw, however, the Blues will feel they had enough chances to have won it. Adam Webster, Luke Chambers and Tom Lawrence all went close in the first half, while the on-loan Leicester man had the best opportunity after the break. Webster and Freddie Sears came back into the Town side with Josh Emmanuel and Kevin Bru dropping to the bench, alongside Jonny Williams and Teddy Bishop. Webster, who had been out with a hamstring injury, took up his usual right-sided central defensive role with skipper Chambers returning to right-back. The Blues, wearing their Barcelona-style third kit for only the fourth time, lined-up in a 4-4-2 formation with Sears, without a goal in 37 games, joining ex-Rover Leon Best up front. Lawrence, a former Blackburn loanee, was on the left with Grant Ward on the right. Williams was named among the subs for the first time since his return for a fourth loan spell having recovered from the ankle injury he suffered in pre-season with Crystal Palace. Bishop was included in the 18 despite breaking his nose for the second time in a month in training on Thursday. Ex-Blues loanee Liam Feeney was on the bench for the home side, while Martin Samuelsen, a player eyed by Town boss Mick McCarthy in the summer, was handed his first Championship start for the home side. Blackburn started the stronger with a number of early crosses flying into the box from the flanks, Christophe Berra nodding the most dangerous away ahead of Marvin Emnes. But it was Town who struck the first serious shot of the game in the 10th minute. Sears caught Ben Marshall - playing an unfamiliar right-back role with Rovers skipper Jason Lowe suspended - in possession on the left just outside the area and laid the ball off to Ward, but the former Spurs man’s strike was too close to Rovers keeper Jason Steele. As an even game, more open than Town’s most recent few matches, moved towards the 20-minute mark Blues captain Chambers twice went close. First Samuelsen misjudged Best’s cross from the left allowing Chambers a shot at goal, which deflected not too far wide off Guthrie. Then, from the resultant corner, Chambers got ahead of his man but was only able to flick the ball across the face and wide when he will feel he ought to have hit the target. Town threatened again from another Lawrence flag-kick, this time on the right, on 22. Best nodded back from deep and Webster powered a header from the edge of the six-yard box which Steele did superbly to keep out before Marshall turned the ball behind. The Blues continued to look the more dangerous side and went close again on 28. Following a throw on the Town right, Webster brought the ball forward from halfway to the edge of the box and rode a tackle before laying it off to Lawrence, who scuffed wide when he should at least have tested Steele. As the match moved past the half hour Town kept pressing for the goal which would end their drought. Ward saw a cross from the right after a fine ball from Cole Skuse cut out and then a shot blocked, before Best teed-up Lawrence, but his strike failed to trouble Steele. Blackburn’s first significant chance of the game came in the 34th minute when right-back Derrick Williams, who regularly trained with the Town academy as a schoolboy, crossed from the left to Sam Gallagher, but the on-loan Southampton man was unable to control his far-post header and the ball flew well back into the stand housing the Town support. On 41 Marshall exchanged passes with Samuelsen - who had swapped flanks to the right with skipper Craig Conway moving to the left - and Emnes but scuffed his shot - the home side’s first effort on target - through to Bartosz Bialkowski under pressure from Jonathan Douglas. In the final scheduled minute of the half Douglas was dispossessed on halfway by Emnes and the ball was eventually laid off to Guthrie just outside the area and the former Newcastle midfielder hit a powerful striker just over Bialkowski’s bar. However, despite the home side having had those two opportunities just before referee Geoff Eltringham blew his whistle, Town will feel they had had the better of a half which had been less of a midfield battle and therefore more entertaining - and with more penalty are action - than their recent games. The Blues created more of the first-half opportunities and Chambers and Lawrence will feel they ought to have made more of their openings, while the excellent Webster was only prevented from scoring his first Town goal by an impressive Steele save. Rovers switched centre-half Gordon Greer for Darragh Lenihan at half-time, the Irishman moving into an unfamiliar role at the heart of the defence. The Scotland international had been suffering with a groin injury earlier in the week. Neither side threatened immediately after the restart but just before the hour Chambers brought the ball forward from deep and fed Best, who hit a shot on the turn from the right of the area which Steele palmed out for a corner, although it already looked to have been going wide. On 62 Blackburn replaced Norwegian international Samuelsen with Elliott Bennett, another player the Blues were keen on in the summer, the on-loan West Ham man having shown his ability in patches but while largely on the periphery of the match. Two minutes later, Marshall shot wide from distance. Ex-Rovers striker Best, booed by his old fans from the start, headed over in the 66th minute when Ward found him with a cross from the right after a short corner, much to the delight of the home support. The Blues threatened again soon afterwards, Ward eventually sending over a dangerous cross from the right which was cleared ahead of Douglas. Town should have gone in front in the 75th minute after Conway’s dreadful backpass had almost played Sears in on goal. The Blues striker initially couldn’t quite reach it but he brought the ball back in from the left and hit a shot which Steele batted away. Knudsen reached the loose ball first and cut it back to Lawrence, who scuffed against Steele at the near post from the edge of the six-yard with the rest of the goal gaping. Moments later Bishop took over from Ward. Town continued to take the game to the home side and had most of the ball. On 80, soon after Bishop had been crowded out as he skipped into the area, Knudsen smashed a low drive wide. Marshall shot over from just inside the right of the box on 85 before Williams was introduced for the Blues in place of Lawrence, the on-loan Crystal Palace man making his fourth Town debut. Two minutes later, Gallagher picked up the game’s first booking for a foul, then following the freekick Best blazed over after the ball had been cleared to him on the edge of the box. Town finished the game the stronger and still pressing for that elusive goal but referee Eltringham’s whistle confirmed the goalless draw. The Blues will feel they had the chances to win a match - Lawrence’s was the best in the second half - which was a livelier affair than the games immediately before the international break and a number of players will feel they might have done better with their opportunities. At the other end, Bialkowski had one of his quietest afternoons and Town recorded their fourth clean sheet in their last six games. The Blues, who are now 17th, are next in action against Burton Albion, a place above Town on the same points following their 0-0 draw at Wigan today, at Portman Road on Tuesday evening. Blackburn: Steele, Marshall, D Williams, Greer (Lenihan 46), Hoban, Guthrie, Evans (Evans 72), Conway (c), Samuelsen (Bennett 62), Gallagher, Emnes. Unused: Raya, Feeney, Stokes, Mulgrew. Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Webster, Berra, Knudsen, Skuse, Douglas, Lawrence (Williams 85), Ward (Bishop 75), Sears, Best. Unused: Gerken, Emmanuel, Kenlock, Grant, Bru, J Williams. Referee: Geoff Eltringham (County Durham). Attendance: 10,820 (Town: 564).
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