Town equalled their record total of 18 draws in a season as they left Swansea after a goalless stalemate. The Blues, playing five in midfield for the most part, frustrated the home side in a game of few chances.

Boss Roy Keane made two changes to the side which lost to Plymouth in midweek, Jaime Peters and Grant Leadbitter coming in for Pablo Couñago and Carlos Edwards.

Peters went to left-back with Shane O’Connor at left midfield,a role he has played regularly in the reserves, while Walters moved to right midfield with Daryl Murphy up front. Former Blue Shefki Kuqi started for the Swans and was given a warm welcome by the Town support.

The home side went close to going in front in only the third minute, Cedric Van Der Gun escaping Walters down the Swansea left and sending in a low cross which right winger Nathan Dyer somehow hit against the far post from a matter of feet.

It became clear early on that Town had come to frustrate the Swans, allowing them to pass the ball around in their own half of the field before pressing them once they crossed halfway.

On 16 Damien Delaney was caught out by a ball over the top but Dyer just failed to reach it. Chances continued to be rare at either end but in the 28th minute Angel Rangel cut in from the right and hit a shot which Brian Murphy saved, but having taken the ball out of play.

Town had had one or two moments in and around the Swansea penalty area but each time the final ball let them down. It wasn’t until the 35th minute that the Blues managed a shot but even then David Norris went high and wide.

Three minutes later, Grant Leadbitter went closer with a 25-yard shot which Jon Walters almost got a touch on before Swans keeper Dorus De Vries saved.

Just before the break, Darren Pratley picked up the game’s first yellow card for catching David Norris with an arm.

It had been a largely uneventful first half with the home side enjoying the vast majority of the possession but with Town playing an effective containing game. The Blues had been little threat going forward until the closing stages but even then still did little to test De Vries.

Daryl Murphy hit the second half’s first effort in the 47th minute, but had little chance of beating De Vries from such a tight angle.

Mark Gower, a half-time sub for Dyer, struck Swansea’s first shot of the second period but Brian Murphy claimed comfortably.

Carlos Edwards replaced Shane O’Connor in the 56th minute as the Blues switched to 4-4-2 with Jon Walters joining Daryl Murphy up front. Edwards went to right midfield with Jack Colback now on the left.

Town almost went in front in bizarre circumstances in the 58th minute. Leadbitter found Walters inside the Swansea area clearly several yards offside. The skipper juggled the ball waiting for a flag before laying the ball back to Murphy, whose shot was well saved by De Vries. Had Walters realised the flag wasn’t going to come, he could have simply turned and scored unchallenged.

After the Swansea players remonstrated about the flag which never came, the corner was cleared to David Norris on the edge of the box, but his shot went wide.

As the game reached the hour mark, Shefki Kuqi headed over from an Andrea Orlandi cross. Two minutes later, Ashley Williams went closer with a flicked header which flew narrowly wide of Murphy’s right post.

Penalty area action continued to be rare but on 82 Leadbitter’s 25-yard shot wasn’t too far over De Vries’s crossbar.

On 88 Jack Colback played in Daryl Murphy after an error in the Swansea defence but De Vries was out quickly to claim ahead of the on-loan striker.

Shefki Kuqi almost managed to grab the winner against his old club in the 89th minute, but headed Gower’s corner just beyond Murphy’s post.

There was just time for Grant Leadbitter’s freekick to give De Vries little trouble before referee Craig Pawson blew the final whistle.

Town were solid but unspectacular, rarely threatening to score but preventing the home side from creating too much of note at the other end. Swansea had most of the play throughout, but without carving out the openings which might have seen them claim all three points.

The Blues were a better prospect than they had been on Tuesday but still gave the ball away far too easily far too often. Given the overall aim of frustrating the home side, it was little surprise that Town had few if an clear cut opportunities to score, the offside chance aside, although De Vries was arguably the busier of the two keepers.

The draw was Town's 18th of the season, matching the record total previously reached in 1990/91.

This morning’s press speculation regarding Roy Keane’s future was the talk of the terraces, while the Town manager’s name was sung at times during both halves, the Irishman waving to the away support when asked to during the second half.

Town probably deserved the point they came for, a result which takes them to 48 points, still in 16th in the table. With Crystal Palace now nine points behind in the final relegation place, the Blues now look safe from relegation barring a late collapse being coupled with unlikely bursts of late form from the sides below them.

Town: B Murphy, D Wright, Peters, Delaney, McAuley, Leadbitter, Norris, Colback, Walters, O’Connor (Edwards 56), D Murphy. Unused: Lee-Barrett, Garvan, Smith, Couñago, Healy, Rosenior. Att: 14,902.

Photo: Action Images

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