Brett Pitman hit the woodwork twice as Town were held to a goalless draw at Charlton despite enjoying much the better of the chances. The striker shot against the bar early on and then clipped the frame with a second-half header in a match the Blues dominated without finding a cutting edge.
Mick McCarthy’s starting line-up included a fresh face in the form of Belgian international winger Roland Lamah. The 28-year-old trialist, who spent a season and a half with Swansea City, has played his football in Hungary with Ferencváros for the last two years and began on the left wing with Town still short of orthodox wide options.
David McGoldrick partnered Pitman up front while, in perhaps the clearest indication of McCarthy’s thinking ahead of the upcoming campaign, last season’s first-choice back four all started, while Andre Dozzell lined up on the right of midfield.
Kevin Bru and Jonathan Douglas made up the central pair, with Luke Hyam missing out due to the twisted knee he sustained at Cambridge.
Experienced Charlton defender Roger Johnson was quickly across to prevent McGoldrick latching onto a Bru ball in the second minute as Town knocked the ball around in the opening minutes. The rangy Lamah then earned himself some early applause from the 300-strong away following in the Jimmy Seed Stand with a sharp tackle on right-back Chris Solly.
Town had controlled the opening 10 minutes and came within inches of scoring a superb opener through Pitman. Christophe Berra sent Jonas Knudsen away down the left and Pitman met his low cut-back, aimed towards the ‘D’, on the half-volley. It was a fine piece of technique but, with goalkeeper Dillon Phillips well beaten, the ball thudded off the crossbar and away.
Six minutes later a long Knudsen throw, flicked on at the near post by Luke Chambers, caused mild consternation in the home box before Bru hooked the half-cleared wall wide. Bru had seen plenty of the ball early on with Charlton, whose manager Russell Slade was making his home debut in the dugout, struggling for meaningful possession.
The Addicks began to settle and Pitman blocked a full-blooded drive from Callum Harriott, who had received a short freekick that he had won after being fouled by Knudsen. Berra was then alert to snuff out a Johnnie Jackson pass that fleetingly looked to have slid Nicky Ajose, Charlton’s central attacker, through on goal.
Lamah had his first real chance to excite the Town fans in the 26th minute, eating up the ground with a dangerous 40-yard run through the middle before his ball for Pitman was cut out.
Town put together the slickest move of the half shortly afterwards; Dozzell, previously quiet, moved infield and fed Lamah on the edge of the area. His touch back to Pitman was met by a first-time ball for McGoldrick, in space on the right of the area, who moved the ball onto his left foot before shooting narrowly over.
Town were now on top again and, from their first corner of the match, Ezri Konsa bravely stopped Berra converting Bru’s delivery. McGoldrick then seized on an error from Kevin Foley and reached the left byline but Johnson, who had defended well all half, reached his cross ahead of Lamah.
Ricky Holmes curled a cross-shot well wide for Charlton before the end of a half that Town had generally dominated without creating too many clear chances, with Pitman’s effort by far the most noteworthy.
Trialist Lamah’s appetite for hard work will have pleased McCarthy although he made little major impact further forward.
The Blues emerged unchanged after the break, with McCarthy evidently keen to give his senior players an extended run-out.
Two early Bru corners came to nothing, and then the midfielder narrowly failed to locate Chambers, who had made a lung-busting run from right-back, with a diagonal ball.
In the 55th minute Knudsen crossed just above the head of Pitman, although the highlight of the move had very much been a delightful feint by McGoldrick in midfield that left Jackson for dead.
That was McGoldrick’s final action of a workout in which his influence had grown. He was replaced by Freddie Sears, while Teddy Bishop took Dozzell’s place and Cameron Stewart, returning to the ground he called home in 2013/14, came on for Lamah.
Town instantly looked sharper around the penalty area and, after another Knudsen delivery evaded Sears, Bishop struck a low effort from 16 yards that Phillips could not hold to his right, with Pitman unable to convert in the ensuring scramble.
Within a minute Pitman struck the woodwork for the second time on the night, heading onto the top of the bar after Sears, checking onto his right foot, had clipped in an accurate cross from the left.
By now Town were looking more dangerous than at any stage in the evening, with Bishop lively from the off and Knudsen getting forward with enthusiasm.
Phillips had to get down smartly at his near post in the 66th minute after Douglas backheeled a Bru corner towards goal; Charlton, despite a couple of breaks, had posed little or no threat since the interval.
Pitman received treatment in the 70th minute after appearing to take a knock to his foot, an impromptu drinks break ensuing. His replacement four minutes later by Daryl Murphy may well have been planned but he was in visible discomfort as he left the pitch and continued to receive attention from Town’s medical staff.
Bru received a talking-to from referee Darren Deadman for a late challenge on home substitute El-Hadji Ba as the game became somewhat stop-start.
With 10 minutes to play, Town missed their clearest chance of the night. Stewart’s excellent delivery from the left found Chambers, who had evaded his marker at the far post, with the goal at his mercy but the captain headed a yard wide when anything on target would have beaten Phillips. Chambers’s shake of the head betrayed his annoyance.
Moments later Berra had a penalty claim rejected after he fell in the box when challenging for a freekick. Cole Skuse replaced Douglas, who had played his part in Town’s control of the midfield, in the 86th minute.
With 12 seconds left on the clock Chambers came agonisingly close to atoning for his miss in a near-identical situation, another Stewart ball finding him unmarked. This time he worked Phillips, but the Charlton number one got down brilliantly to flip his header up and over the crossbar.
Town will feel they should have won in comfort, with Bartosz Bialkowski enjoying perhaps his quietest-ever night since joining the club.
McCarthy will have been pleased by some of the build-up play, while McGoldrick put in an encouraging night’s work and there were good performances from Bru and Knudsen. The lack of goals, though, remains a concern with Town opening their league campaign in 11 days.
Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Berra, Smith, Knudsen, Douglas (Skuse, 86), Bru, Dozzell (Bishop, 56), Pitman (Murphy, 74), McGoldrick (Sears, 56), Lamah (Stewart, 56). Unused: Crowe, Digby, Kenlock, Emmanuel, Malarczyk, Blanchfield, McLoughlin, Webster.