Town boss Roy Keane admitted that Leicester probably had the better of the chances but felt a draw was the right result after Saturday's 0-0 stalemate at Portman Road.

Keane said: "I could give lots of excuses but we're professionals and have got to do better. The positives are that we got a point and kept a clean sheet. The players hung in there when they weren't quite at the races.

"We could have got something from the game and had two or three very good chances, so we'll take the point and move on."

Reiterating that promotion is still very much his target, Keane conceded that better finishing would have given the visitors all three points: "Leicester probably had the better of the chances.

"We were disappointed with the way we played in the first half. It took a while to get going but we were brighter in the second half and a bit more solid and composed.

"In the first half we were very sluggish, though. Our passing wasn't sharp enough and the pace and angling of it wasn't right."

The Blues boss switched his side to 4-4-2 at the break and says that that sort of versatility is something which he has been working on: "We look at that every day in training and can adapt within a game.

"I knew that when we made changes at half-time it wouldn't be a problem. It all depends on the players we have available and the opposition.

"The players have got to be able to adapt to whatever we think is right on the day."

Leicester manager Nigel Pearson felt his side deserved more than a point: "We were a little bit disappointed that we didn't convert some of our chances. It would have been nice to win the game.

"We possibly shaded it, although it was a game of few chances and they put us under a bit of pressure in the second half.

"We were relatively pleased with how we applied ourselves, but whether it's a point gained or two lost I'm not sure yet.

"We played some good football, especially in the first half, but in the second they were a bit more positive.

"We've made a decent start but it's not a case of being satisfied because, even though we are new to the division, there's an air of expectation on us to achieve a place in the play-offs.

"We are one of 10 or 12 sides who will fancy their chances and that illustrates how tough this league is. I fully expect us to do well and cause a few surprises."

Photo: Action Images

Wozza added 19:07 - Aug 15 "We'll take the point and move on." Onwards and upwards, we trust you Keano!!
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Rozz added 19:19 - Aug 15 Agree with that, both neither sides looked particularly dangerous in a relatively dull game. It's a point though, and every one of those is worth having under our belt. Hopefully we'll see a good result on tuesday.
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mantreeblue added 19:31 - Aug 15 get your act togeather or get out kean
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Back_The_Boss added 20:51 - Aug 15 Give the gaffer a chance, he's only played 3 games :)
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dirtydingusmagee added 20:57 - Aug 15 some of the predictions 4-0 really were optomistic , weve dominated a couple of games,lost one,and won on penalties, Leicester were never going to be push'overs, weve dropped a couple of points today,but its no disaster,dont start knocking RK , SHIT HAPPENS as they say, COME ON YOU BLUES.
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Rozz added 21:03 - Aug 15 I tried the optimism route and kept in mind our shakey defence, reaching a 4-2 prediction. Turns out I'm bad at this game.
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oxfordblue added 21:04 - Aug 15 are we really happy with 1 point in 6 against those teams. i look for the new signings daily and until we get a decent striker we will be mid table. please roy sign a striker and hopefully not another irish player?
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paddypowell added 21:24 - Aug 15 strikers r ok ,its players to provide the passes to make chances 4 them that we need,and a good left back,deleaney,yuk ,and a decent central defender,bruce would fit the bill,always gives 100%
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Rozz added 21:25 - Aug 15 you can buy as many flashy strikers as you like, if the service and balls recieved arent up to scratch they arent going to score.
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kipper added 21:36 - Aug 15 Agree with previous comments. Our midfield needs someone to actually create chances for the forwards. It also seems that RK is trying to fit players into a system that he wants to play rather than finding a system that suits the players. On an unrelated subject, some so called "supporter" has already put a copy of the Sir Booby Robson Tribute booklet on ebay - absolutely unbelievable. Seems it was posted at 18.02 so doubt it was a Leicester fan, Guess it was probably one of the people who was booing at the end, real true fan !!

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ShefTractor added 23:05 - Aug 15 mantreeblue, stop being so fickle. I bet you're one of the bafoon's that was booing at the end of the game. Keane's comments are right. And so are the few reason-talking people's posts above; we did deserve the draw and it is not about signing another striker, what we have is perfectly sufficient. The performance we saw today was not dissimilar to what we had last season, only difference being that we didn't create the chances to miss them. If we had, I would put money on Priskin, Stead, Martin, Walters or Wickham putting them away if we had the chances. Give them a few weeks, you have to remember we have a squad with a lot of new players (including the youngsters) who need to gel. The problem with Magilton was that he had 3 years to gel a team and it never happened. Just give it time. Promotion this year is definately a possibility but we're not going to run away with the league just because we have a 16 year old wonderkid and Roy Keane.

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SmellyGreenVeggie added 23:06 - Aug 15 Good that we got a clean sheet today, but hide's the fact that the same old problems remain, we need a solid backline! I don't know about you but I have kittens every time the opposition gets over the halfway line (not good for the heart). Leicester City fans are probably still laughing at the fact that we paid £2m for Gareth McAuley. Pim has come on leaps and bounds, but I would feel more comfortable if we had a solid old pro in defence e.g. Chris Morgan. Losing Norris is a blow, agree with previous posts that we could do with a creative player in midfield, Garvan should be the guy to fill this position, let's hope he's up for the challenge. Dunno if Gio will be heading back to Suffolk, would be nice if he did. Roll-on Palace on Tuesday. p.s. do you think Keano agreed a buy back clause for Jordan Rhodes?????

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Mark added 01:23 - Aug 16 I can't help being somewhat worried that our first choice midfield consists of Healy (a £50K signing who looked a bit slow), Peters (a winger surely) and Trotter (promising, but in and out of the League 1 Scunthorpe team on loan last year). Okay, so Martin and Walters were in midfield most of the time too, but that left Stead rather isolated up front. I much prefer 4-4-2, I must say, especially with the likes of Priskin on the bench for the first half. Whatever tactics we play, I can't see us getting automatic promotion this year with the likes of Newcaste, Middlesbrough, WBA and Sheff Utd in our league.

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lphughes added 03:04 - Aug 16 gareth mcauley has been the worst player on the pitch 2 games runinng nw and mark are first choice midfield does nt consist of healy it is because are best play DAVDID NORRIS IS INJURED
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steve01777 added 07:13 - Aug 16 can we have someone better takin free kicks and corners as most of the balls into the box are a joke (seen the two league games now) why does delaney always float the ball into the box even the few times it finds a blue player you need a neck like a piston to put any power on the thing it was a shite performance yesterday how any times have are corners failed to get over the first man come on its schoolboy stuff waste corners lose a goal scoring chance if it aint in there you cant score i know its only the second league game but come on!

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tractorboy1972 added 08:49 - Aug 16 thought we looked better when garvan came on this week and last week started passing the ball rather than knocking it long not impressed with delaney but hopefully he will settle down
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lukeym18 added 10:19 - Aug 16 it was awful, nobody can deny that and make excuses about new players the facts are we cant play 4-5-1 at home and excpet 2 win, ive said to so many people it dosent work our best formation is 4-4-2 & i even told my mum at half time he'll change it and go 4-4-2 and i was right its there for everyone to see, if we play 4-4-2 on tuesday we'll win & then maybe he'll keep the same formation, and delaney is properly the worst left back ive seen & colin healy why did we sign him ? he was nearly as bad as delaney in the 1st half. im not moaning im just putting my point across but it did get a bit better in the 2nd half lets hope we start playing well.

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Wickets added 10:50 - Aug 16 Most worring 4 me is we seem to have the same problems as last year NO LEADER AND NO 1 WHO LOOKS LIKE SCORING !!! though its early days as yet 4 Priskin.
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6fish added 10:59 - Aug 16 Agree with the comments about midfield, ours was far too weak yesterday. We played three midfielders yesterday that are not good enough for this division (if you want to win it) and so thats where the money needs to be spent. I'm not convinced Keane has the money to change this though.
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Mark added 11:36 - Aug 16 lphughes - I know Norris was missing, and hopefully he would have made a difference. If he played though it would still leave 2 from 3 of Healy, Trotter and Peters in central midfield positions. I just don't see them as being strong enough to take us up. I think Priskin will be fine when given a run in the team and hopefully a regular strike partner alongside him in a 4-4-2 position. If we play 4-4-2, Walters and Martin can play in midfield leaving just two central midfield positions to fill. As for the defence, I thought Balkestein saved Delaney and McAuley on several occasions. A really worrying defensive display and thank goodness for Richard Wright!

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JSmith added 12:08 - Aug 16 i just dont think our team can play 4-3-3, for it to work you need your two wingers supporting the striker otherwise we are aiming a ball for stead for him to knock it down for who? also i think mcauley was diabolical, he thinks he is better than what he is, roy keane needs to kick him up the backside!
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old_and_blue added 12:09 - Aug 16 Oh dear. Not as bad as the worst of last year but not as good as our best last year. My companion said we seemed to be playing 4-0-6 in the first half! There didn't seem much midfield resistance to the Leicester attacks! Thought Trotter was poor and too far forward. Don't like 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 as the manager calls it. Seems to be neither one thing or the other. Better in the second half but still not good enough. Walters the best of the bunch, as is often the case. We were lucky to get a draw really..

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adamisablue added 12:12 - Aug 16 credit where its due, delany looked solid defensivly, but his distibutuion was worse than p##s poor.maybe change him to left center defense? priskin looked tricky wen he came on as did wickham, wee loked much better as a 4 4 2 as stead was isolated and fustrated up front all 1st half. think stead and priskin could form a solid partnership if givin a chance, wickham being used as super sub(the lads only 16) with pablo used as cover. what we really need in the nxt 3 weeks or so is two midfeilders at least one being a scrapy ball winner a la veira style (luco nd norris out long term) and a defensive leader, (pims young and mcually is not a leader of men, why he is captain is beyond me) a la terry style. oh and we need me as directer of football, i could send in my championship manger C.V, its quite impressive...lol

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StowTractorBoy added 14:40 - Aug 16 Why are there so many Macauley bashers on this site ok he was not brilliant but take him out and see what happens - concede 3 goals at Shrewsbury. He started slowly last season and ended up being one of our best players. Leave the bloke alone for goodness sake. I agree with previous posts re midfield and that is the area that needs to be rectified. I would bring Quinn back in on Tuesday as at least he can break up the play and he gave 100% at Shrewsbury. With service we have the strikers to score.

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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 15:25 - Aug 16 StowTractorBoy writes, "With service we have the strikers to score." I agree: thought Priskin especially looked capable of putting away chances, if he ever got served any. Also agree with what many others have said, i.e. that we seemed to pepper the ball upfield as soon as we got hold of it to an undermanned strike force. Maybe Pablo could hold the ball up at the top of midfield and thread it through to Priskin & Stead / Wickam? I appreciate playing with drive and energy, but sometimes I feel we need to calm it down a bit and build up more slowly through midfield to give the front men a chance to actually get into dangerous positions. Then I'm sure we have strikers who could put the ball away.

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