Freddie Sears struck the post and Leon Best and Cole Skuse both had the ball cleared off the line in a frantic final few minutes but Town had to be content with a 0-0 draw with Aston Villa at Portman Road. Until the closing stages it had been a close game of few chances but in the end the Blues were unlucky not to claim all three points.

Freddie Sears and Tom Lawrence replaced Kevin Bru and Conor Grant, who both dropped to the bench, in an otherwise unchanged side. Lawrence started in the hole behind Brett Pitman with Sears on the left.

Villa, who made four changes from the side which drew 1-1 at home to Brentford in midweek, were without striker Ross McCormack, due to a knee problem, while fellow frontman Rudy Gestede also missed out.

Right-back Ritchie De Laet was another absentee as he requires a knee operation, while Aly Cissokho dropped to the bench. Nathan Baker, Leandro Bacuna, Jordan Amivi and Jack Grealish all came into the starting line-up.

Villa started on top and in only the second minute Jordan Amavi sent a dangerous ball from the left across the Blues’ six-yard box but no one was on hand to add a touch.

Town’s first chance came in the fourth minute when Pitman hit a shot from outside the area which Villa keeper Pierluigi Gollini palmed behind.

Lawrence took the resultant corner, which dropped on the edge of the six-yard box but fortunately for the visitors not to a Blue shirt.

However, Villa were looking the more dangerous side in the opening minutes and on 12 Jack Grealish cut in from the left and saw his shot blocked.

On 17 Sears felt he should have been awarded a penalty when challenged on the left of the area, then a minute later the former West Ham man struck a shot from just outside the area but too close to Gollini.

The Blues were beginning to get on top, winning a number of corners and throws on the left.

In the 19th minute Pitman flicked a header on to Lawrence, who had found space in the the area, but Baker got across quickly to block the full debutant’s strike.

Six minutes later Lawrence picked the ball up after a spell of head tennis midway inside the Villa half. The Wales international took it on a couple of paces before hitting a powerful shot not too far past Gollini’s left post.

Villa were forced into a change in the 28th minute when Baker suffered a knock and was replaced by former England man Micah Richards with the visitors moving into a back three.

As half-time approached the Midlanders were having most of the ball but without being able to create an opening with too many crosses from the left hit too long.

On 41 Sears was sent away on the right of the Villa area by Lawrence but hit his shot into the side-netting from a tight angle when he ought to have waited for a team-mate and crossed. A minute later, Sears was again found in a similar area but this time looped his cross deep to no one.

With a couple of minutes of scheduled time remaining Pitman did well to dispossess James Chester in the area and win a corner. Following Lawrence’s flag-kick Ward hit a shot which was blocked, then at the other end Grealish shot wide.

After a minute of added time referee Tony Harrington ended what had been an evenly balanced first half.

Both sides had had spells on top but with neither able to force a serious opportunity to take the lead.

Villa, and Grealish in particularly, had looked dangerous around the Blues’ box but similarly Sears and Lawrence had shown their willingness to shoot in the final third.

Sears sent over a cross from the left four minutes after the restart but too long for Ward.

On 52 Lawrence was booked which the referee indicated was for the latest in a succession of fouls.

Four minutes later Ward won a freekick on the right and Lawrence sent over a ball which flicked off a Villa head before reaching Jonathan Douglas, who was unable to divert goalwards.

There was a big scare for the Blues on 57 when Jordan Ayew latched onto Luke Chambers’s weak backpass and rounded the advancing Bialkowski but Webster got back to slide in and brilliantly take the ball away from the striker.

Teddy Bishop replaced Lawrence a minute later with the loanee applauded off warmly after a very promising first appearance for the Blues at Portman Road.

Almost immediately Bishop was involved in a nasty clash of heads with Ashley Westwood and the pair both required lengthy treatment, the Town sub for a nosebleed, before carrying on.

Grealish cut on from the left and hit a shot which Christophe Berra blocked and Jonas Knudsen turned behind on 67, before Cissokho replaced Amavi for the visitors.

Villa were awarded a freekick on the right not far outside the area on 73 after Berra had tripped Ayew. The initial set piece was cleared by Pitman and Town players blocked three subsequent Villa shots at goal.

Soon after, Jonathan Kodjia was yellow-carded as the Blues prepared to take a freekick, presumably for something he said.

In the 80th minute Pitman smashed a 25-yard freekick straight at the wall, then Berra headed Knudsen’s ball in from the left from a subsequent freekick wide at the far post. Villa switched Bacuna for Albert Adomah for the final eight minutes.

A minute later Bishop found himself some space on the Town right and sent a low ball across the area but behind his team-mates, then at the other end Webster, who put in another impressive display at the back, took the ball off Ayew after he had broken into a dangerous area from the left and looked set to shoot.

As the game moved into its final three minutes Luke Varney replaced Pitman and Leon Best was handed his Town debut in place of Bishop.

The former Newcastle man immediately won a freekick not far outside the area from which the Blues almost took the lead. Sears curled a shot which caught the wall and just flew wide before hitting the stanchion.

From the resultant corner the Blues went close again, Best heading powerfully towards goal and Kodjia nodding off the line and over.

Deep in eight minutes of injury time Varney won another freekick in almost the same spot as the one moments earlier. Again Sears took the kick and this time Gollini impressively got across to his right to paw the ball behind for a corner.

From the resultant flag-kick the Blues went close yet again. The ball reached Skuse on the edge of the area on the right and his chip was nodded off the line by Cissokho.

Unbelievably Town went even closer before the whistle. Sears cutting in from the left and hitting a low shot which struck the post.

The unlucky frontman, who is now without a goal in 34 games, sent over a late freekick but too deep and not long afterwards referee Harrington blew his final whistle.

Town had been very unfortunate not to win it in a frantic end in which the ball was cleared off the line twice, Sears had struck the post and had twice gone close from freekicks.

Prior to the final minutes the half had been much the same as the first with neither keeper particularly busy.

Villa, whose best chance was Ayew’s one-on-one, failed to hit a single shot on target in the entire game.

However, in the end the Villans will have been glad to hear the final whistle while Town will have been confident of winning it had the match lasted a few more minutes.

The Blues are now 11th but only two points behind Brentford and Brighton in fifth and sixth.

Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Webster, Berra, Knudsen, Skuse, Douglas, Lawrence (Bishop 58 (Best 87)), Ward, Sears, Pitman (Varney 87). Unused: Gerken, Kenlock, Bru, Grant.

Aston Villa: Gollina, Bacuna (Adomah 82), Elphick (c), Chester, Baker (Richards 28), Amavi (Cissokho 67), Westwood, Jedinak, Grealish, Ayew, Kodjia. Unused: Bunn, Kozak, Hutton, Gardner. Referee: Tony Harrington (Cleveland). Att: 19,249. (Villa: 1,882).

Photo: TWTD

essexbluey added 18:40 - Sep 17 The Ipswich fans who where fighting after the game behind br stand should feel SHAME. All drunk old men feeling hard with a few pints in them, one guy on the floor while being kicked by 4 others, loads of little kids upset haveing to witness it while our crap security just didn't want to know. A big guy with tattoos and wearing a town scarf broke it up risking getting a kicking himself. Them old violent drunks should never be allowed near portman road again.

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SheptonMalletBlue added 18:42 - Sep 17 hancockingoal it's a close call I admit, but I've supported Town since the mid 70's and have never been as depressed as I am now about the type of football we play & our future prospects under this manager.
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Keaneish added 18:46 - Sep 17 Called the nil-nil yesterday lunch time. I take no pride in that, it's just the unbelievable predictability of how we play our game at Portman Road these days. 7 out of our first 9 fixtures have been nil-nil at half time. This is no accident. Can't comment on the game this week as I missed this one but glad to hear Webster is starting to find his feet especially given how exposed he's been by chambers recently.

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Taricco_Fan added 18:48 - Sep 17 @therein61 Ticket prices are too high, plain and simple. Norwich, Villa and Newcastle should be the three that get 22000-25000 through the door easily. The poor style of play doesn't help.
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runaround added 18:55 - Sep 17 Not the worst nil nil I have ever seen by any stretch of the imagination. As always you can never question our teams effort, desire & work rate as we defended well enough so Bart didn't have a save to make. Villa have some good players especially the ridiculously talented yet ridiculously coiffured Grealish yet we kept them at arms length throughout. On another day we would have won but just couldn't score. I do feel we just didn't go for enough until far too late in the match. This is down to pragmatic Mick being too scared of losing. I know we can't go all guns blazing throughout but the chances we created in injury time showed what we could've done had Mick gone for it 10 or 15 minutes earlier. When likes of Williams & McGoldrick are back , Lawrence & Best get fitter we will have attacking options to cause teams problems add this to the defensive attributed we are now showing, we can challenge. Whether Mick will loosen the reins enough to let this happen is another thing.

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planetblue_2011 added 19:01 - Sep 17 If Sears keeps playing like he did today then the goals will start flowing for him, motm today! Webster had a good game too we defended very well apart from Chambers. Your a good pro Chambers but not at Rb Mick sort it out mate... Should of won in the end, if we play like we did in the whole 8 mins of injury time every game we will batter teams. Still feel hopeful the good times will come!!!

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planetblue_2011 added 19:02 - Sep 17 Plus we should of put on best & Varney a lot sooner👍🏻
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runningout added 19:13 - Sep 17 plenty of room for improvement; and that's a understatement ..
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Surco72 added 19:27 - Sep 17 I just can't be arsed with it anymore MM can talk all he wants about any style of football but he will play with the same crap he has served up for 20years . Big defenders who hoof the ball , non creative midfielders who offer nothing and limited ability all round but run hard and are great boys . Limited chances limited attempts on target , limited entertainment , limited chance of promotion , limited chance of any change as Chambo , Skysr ,Douglas will all be playing next game and MM will still be in charge ........dull , boring ,predictable you are welcome to it

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bings109 added 19:28 - Sep 17 The most negative and safety-first manager on the planet-Bishop should never carried on, only to be subbed later. To b ring on Varney and Best so late, making them wait another three minutes, just to be sure Villa didnt nick one. Pittman barely won a header all game, as soon as the subs came on we won evry header-brilliant deduction Mick. As for that disgrace of a Captain, looking overweight, unfit, and disinterested, his casual misplacement of at least five passes, and the through ball for their attacker-thank god Webster will soon take over the armband. He shouldnt be anywhere near the team, his sullen manner is such a negative, with the up tempo attitude of the likes of Ward, Knudsen and Lawrence putting him to shame. Seems to me he is just playing out his time here now, until the end of his contract- well we dont need him or want him here playing like that. We may never get promotion, but as we saw at the end of the game, the fans will always get behind a team of tryers. And he can take that waste of space Douglas with him-didnt contribute at all.

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bings109 added 19:28 - Sep 17 The most negative and safety-first manager on the planet-Bishop should never carried on, only to be subbed later. To b ring on Varney and Best so late, making them wait another three minutes, just to be sure Villa didnt nick one. Pittman barely won a header all game, as soon as the subs came on we won evry header-brilliant deduction Mick. As for that disgrace of a Captain, looking overweight, unfit, and disinterested, his casual misplacement of at least five passes, and the through ball for their attacker-thank god Webster will soon take over the armband. He shouldnt be anywhere near the team, his sullen manner is such a negative, with the up tempo attitude of the likes of Ward, Knudsen and Lawrence putting him to shame. Seems to me he is just playing out his time here now, until the end of his contract- well we dont need him or want him here playing like that. We may never get promotion, but as we saw at the end of the game, the fans will always get behind a team of tryers. And he can take that waste of space Douglas with him-didnt contribute at all.

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bings109 added 19:28 - Sep 17 The most negative and safety-first manager on the planet-Bishop should never carried on, only to be subbed later. To b ring on Varney and Best so late, making them wait another three minutes, just to be sure Villa didnt nick one. Pittman barely won a header all game, as soon as the subs came on we won evry header-brilliant deduction Mick. As for that disgrace of a Captain, looking overweight, unfit, and disinterested, his casual misplacement of at least five passes, and the through ball for their attacker-thank god Webster will soon take over the armband. He shouldnt be anywhere near the team, his sullen manner is such a negative, with the up tempo attitude of the likes of Ward, Knudsen and Lawrence putting him to shame. Seems to me he is just playing out his time here now, until the end of his contract- well we dont need him or want him here playing like that. We may never get promotion, but as we saw at the end of the game, the fans will always get behind a team of tryers. And he can take that waste of space Douglas with him-didnt contribute at all.

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dirtydingusmagee added 19:44 - Sep 17 ArnieM sorry mate how the f ##k is that a good point ?Villa was team that would have rolled over by a Sunday league team last season we have been in league too long ,if we have ambition or hope for better times ,that was not a good performance or result .
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bonamassablue added 19:52 - Sep 17 A solid performance all round from town, apart from the right back. Villa disappointed but their defenders gave Pitman very little to feed on, although to be fair town's service to him was not good. A rousing finish, but look what happens when you switch to 2 up front and push Ward and Sears forward! Please let's play 4-4-2 at home and put the visitors on the back foot rather than set up to negate them. Ward and Sears are creative players, not defenders. That system may work in the premier league but not with our team.

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brian_a_mul added 19:53 - Sep 17 Good point and could have been 3. Fantastic defense today that didn't need Bart to do his usual world class saves :) a sharper edge up front and we would be genuine top 6, Murph was missed today. When best hits full fitness, I think we can get the most out of pits with a partner up top. Very promising. Best wishes to TC and family
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warktheline added 20:31 - Sep 17 Must say I was extremely happy when Villa's strike partnership didn't make it today! Again another typical McCarthy performance...sorry for me it's all too predictable, in a word 'shackled'!
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hancockingoal added 21:02 - Sep 17 SheptonMalletBlue I saw my first game in 1962 when we won the championship so I have seen all the managers since Ramsey. I feel your pain, I supported Big Mick until the Rotherham game last season and then enough was enough! He only knows one way and the emphasis is on not to lose! However Keane was a nasty piece of work who either by design or pure incompetence did his best to destroy the whole fabric of the club! The last two games the cracks have been well and truly papered over but I think the real problems stem from the very top?

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Swn98 added 21:12 - Sep 17 A good point Webster excellent Lawrence had a good game be even better when He gets match fit.Think Micks hands were a bit tied regards subs wanting to give Bish time we lost our way a bit after he got knutted.Best looked good, look forward to him getting match fit, Knudsen had his usual honest game along with Douglas thought Ward went missing for periods of the game. Chambers was appalling today usually I can find redeeming features in his game but sorry not today. Condolences to TC and Family

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corkblue added 21:16 - Sep 17 Will give the blues a rest for a while - nothing happening! Visits to Derby and today to Portman Road convince me that there is lack of time on the ball - before giving it to the opposition!
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pup12 added 21:45 - Sep 17 How did we not score at the end? Not a bad game entertainment wise for a 0.0.Thought we played well.Chambers nearly cost us and his passing was awful.Im afraid not having a natural right back in tight games and with good opposition like villa it will be the difference between 3 points and 1 or 0?Grant struggled abut against his marker he was a bit stronger wth the shoulder challenges .I think with better right back will see a better Grant as he wont have to cover for chambers and get better passes instead of watching ball go over his head.Best looked like he's gonna be a handful with his height and Varney looked like goal on Tuesday has given him a lift.Good point tho today against a side that's spent 50 million and should be up there.Coyb

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SheptonMalletBlue added 21:51 - Sep 17 hancockingoal I fear you're right regarding the root of the problem, just find the whole situation totally frustrating.
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oldegold added 22:14 - Sep 17 All of a sudden a lot of fans are pleased "with a point" but I'm not. Before the final surge at the end, we had ONE shot on goal,that's right ONE shot in 90 minutes.Well that's not football and the final surge at the end highlights that if our one dimensional hoofster was not so obseesed with nicking a point then we might make some headway if we actually set out to entertain the fans, play for a win, played the ball on the ground and tried to win from the off. Take the blinkers off guys..we're a long way from home and Chambers at right back is an insult to the club's integrity..he is not a right back but mccarthy can't do anything as it would bean omission that he has f****d it up all along plus mccarthy's subsitutions were woeful today..as usual . Bringing forwards on in the last few minutes when it should have been done earlier says much for our tactical genius. - See more at: http://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/30295/mccarthy-pleased-with-performance#

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htb added 22:23 - Sep 17 A very good defensive performance, other than calamitous Chambers back pass. Wester's challenge on Ayew prevented a certain goal and he was outstanding all game.Two clean sheets in the last two games and if we can keep defending like this we will give ourselves chances of winning more than we will lose. Whatever I think of MM you can not deny his teams have spirit, unfortunately it is generally not pretty to watch. For the most part today was the same until the introduction of Best and Va rney and finally for the last 10 minutes we had some excitement and the crowd came to life. I just wish MM could bring himself to be more adventurous from the start, unfortunately I am pretty sure that is a vain hope.

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grubbyoik added 23:07 - Sep 17 As soon as we took the game to Villa we were the better team... We appear too concerned about not loosing.. That we've forgotten how to win.. Also .. Our style of defending is to throw body's on the line(which is fantastic) and then clear our lines.. Which means giving away possession.. And then fighting tooth and nail to get it back(also commendable).. How about we look after the ball a little better... Make the opposition work as hard as us to get it back.. It's our Achilles heal.. And makes for a scrappy game of football.. Which isn't that good to watch...

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MicksZzzTactics added 00:21 - Sep 18 The fact that @superblue95, as for taking just ONE example among several, at present has a total vote count of -17???!!! for his little insinuation that Mick's ITFC is among the dullest teams to watch on planet Earth [and it's "dullness" plus really all other negative aspects of the "Mick Way" they play game after game additionally being among the most easily predictable things known to Man] .... all from an inferred offensive pov obviously! ... really tells the full story of what the whole of TWTD has become these days ! And by whole I mean no longer not merely the notorious inquisition-like TWTD Forum! Bvvvdddrrr (= a nauseating sound!).... All you gullible & brain-washed and/or just imbecile and/or pathetically COMPLACENT so called "true" Ipswich Town fans really DO deserve Mick The Dinosaur ... just as he really deserves YOU [although strictly officially Yorkshire Mick of course "doesn't give a flying fu@k" about what ANY Ipswich Town fan thinks or want, remember? lol]!!! Why? Well I tell you why! 1st Because while @superblue95 original argumentation indeed was a good bit "insufficient" even imho meaning in the sense he "only" opted to recite the last 4 games score and how the goals came about as his form of argumentation, while other -- beside myself! -- of the so called well-known longtime chronic MM"SKEPTICS" here quite easily and much more convincingly could have opted to make a very lengthy novella-like argumentation, including lots and lots of deep statistics and examples! from both the present and previous seasons under MM, that would have made said argumentation "that Mick's ITFC is among the most dullest teams" on planet Earth, pretty much UNDEBUNKABLE! Period! ........... it is still immensely beyond me how so many fans chose to downvote the somewhat "unfortunate"@superblue95 for basically simply bringing this point (read: "fact"!) up again tonight??? Secondly: Exactly like it's likewise immensely beyond me how so many fans can (and alarmingly eagerly so!) agree with MM's awesome Noble Prize worthy post-game-assessment that this was a "Good performance" and as almost mandatory with him: "A good point"??? How in Hellllllll can ANYONE half-sane call a performance with soooo many many many many ultra poor ITFC passes & hoofs combined with just 1 single shot on target in the original 90 minutes (thus for the moment excluding what multiple ITFC positives actually did transpire in the approx. 8 minutes added-on injury time!) for "a good performance"?? When 99+% of all other non-rosytinted & not-blindly-in-luv-with-Mick fans of this here old game interpret "A good performance" in football to be: Something not merely unequivocally visible for the vast MAJORITY of the whole 90+ minuted but most importantly something OTHER than just 1-dimensionally from an completely EXCLUSIVE DEFENSIVE pov .... and in this case preventing the opposition from scoring?????????? And furthermore how in Helllll is this -- once again according to the many I chose to call the Pathetically Complacent -- "a good point"??? When exactly like with so many of our recent opponents i.e. the at the time very anemic & offensively injury-crippled Brentford, the playing well under their usual standard on-the-day Wolves & Norwich, the simply just dreadful looking Reading and the ultra dysfunctional & all-out misfiring Derby (although we somehow won got all 3 points in that one .... due to only reasons Madam Fortuna knows!!! lol) Aston Villa, despite all their money and player investments, also were very much "THERE FOR THE TAKING" today .... having not only not won an away game for eons, but having a rather poor start to their Championship live with several late-game collapses already and last but not least TODAY also being without their best and most prolific strikers McCormack and Gested in addition to their strong defender Ritchie De Laet etc???????? ...... and for extra emphasis just in case someone did fall Zzzz asleep during this the -ordinary-90-minutes ultra turgid and ultra boring game, our King Bart practically was untested -- except by Captain Chambers Ballon D'or worthy horror back-pass (well Prince Chambers made soooo many horror forwardgoing-passes/hoofs TOO! that I eventually lost count of them!) -- during the entire game!!!!! So as I strongly implied earlier, to me personally the whole of TWTD (thus again not merely the inquisition-like Forum) has now rapidly more or less become what Mick's awesome anti-football & hedhoglike ITFC has been for way too looooong already, regardless of whether they sometimes happen to somehow and mostly luckily take all the 3 points or just the 1 "always good" one: A "SPECTACLE "NEITHER WORTH YOUR TIME, NOR YOUR MONEY! ............ which on both accounts is tremendously sad of course, should anyone feel inclined to think otherwise!!!! And in the case of TWTD this despite the on the News Pages still lingering remaining smallish number of objective and very brave ME & MM "SKEPTICS", you all know are brothers & sisters! ... and I wholeheartedly wish finishing this premium RANT of mine by saluting you all!, for standing up against "The Horde", their persecution-style downvoting and just for continue to fight against the seemingly increasing difficult odds of being an MM "Skeptic" and getting anything "skeptical"or even just purely sarcastic across! :-) :-) :-) :-)

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