Town were denied a penalty in the dying seconds as Leicester City held on to claim a 1-1 draw with the Blues at Portman Road. Patson Daka gave the visitors the lead in the 39th minute with Town having been under-par in the first half, before Sindre Walle Egeli levelled on 76 as the Blues dominated the second and ended the game furious that referee John Busby had failed to award a penalty in the final moments when Cedric Kipre was felled by Hamza Choudhury.

Town made five changes from the team which beat Hull City 1-0 on Tuesday, switching back to the side which beat Swansea City 3-0 last weekend.

Jacob Greaves, Jack Taylor, Walle Egeli, Jack Clarke and George Hirst dropped to the bench with Leif Davis, Dan Neil, Wes Burns, Anis Mehmeti and Ivan Azon returning to the XI.

Leicester City made one change from the team which lost 2-0 at home to Norwich in midweek with Divine Mukasa moving to the bench and Stephy Mavididi replacing him.

Choudhury was back among the subs after injury, along with Jordan James and Jamaal Lascelles, who returned to first-team action from the bench against the Canaries.

Town started on the front foot and in the second minute Neil cleverly fed in fellow January recruit Mehmeti on the left of the area but Abdul Fatawu somehow managed to dispossess the Albanian international while stumbling and Foxes skipper Ricardo cleared the danger.

Leicester will feel they should have gone in front in the fifth minute when Neil scuffed the ball to Harry Winks just outside the area and the midfielder, who played under Town boss Kieran McKenna in Tottenham’s academy, hit a low shot which Christian Walton uncomfortably forced over the bar with his trailing legs while diving to his right.

Two minutes later, Mavididi scuffed wide from not far outside the box, before Cedric Kipre played a dangerous ball across the box at the other end but too far in front of Azon.

Leicester continued to see a fair bit of the ball with the Blues giving away possession all too easily and too often.

Town began to regain their composure and in the 19th minute Foxes left-back Luke Thomas was yellow-carded for pulling back Burns as the Wales international looked to burst away down the right.

On 21, after good work from Neil, Azon played in Mehmeti on the left of the box but Ricardo turned it behind for a corner. Following the flag-kick, Neil had an opportunity to either shoot or lift to the far post but instead tamely found Leicester keeper Jakub Stolarczyk’s arms.

Five minutes later, Town showed more shakiness when passing out from the back, Kipre playing the ball into a space and finding only Oliver Skipp, Blues captain Dara O’Shea eventually heading a very dangerous Fatawu ball in from the right over beyond the back post.

From the resultant corner, Town were fortunate not to concede a penalty, Davis having shoved over Caleb Okoli after the two had initially clashed for the ball, referee Busby waving away the Italian centre-half’s protests.

As the game reached the half hour, Azor Matusiwa’s left-footed shot deflected over and from the resultant corner the Blues will feel they should have gone ahead.

Nunez whipped the ball over from the left to the far post and an unmarked O’Shea nodded down and into the stanchion at the bottom of the side-netting. The Irish international was clearly very frustrated with himself.

On 32, O’Shea shot over from distance, then three minutes later Burns was booked for a foul on Fatawu after Neil had lost the ball in the Leicester half and the Foxes had broken at pace.

The Foxes kept the ball in the final third following the free-kick and Okoli hooked a shot from just inside the area to Walton, who was untroubled.

However, six minutes before the end of the half, the Foxes took the lead. After referee Busby had adjudged Daka to have been fouled by either Matusiwa or Darnell Furlong on the left, a decision which looked harsh at best, Thomas whipped the ball in and Daka swept a shot past Walton on the volley to send the away fans wild.

A Leicester goal wasn’t a huge surprise given the Blues’ scruffy half, even if the free-kick had been very debatable, as the Sir Bobby Robson Stand were quick to point out to referee Busby, hardly a favourite official with the Town crowd even prior to today’s game.

Davis felt he should have won a penalty in the 42nd minute when he burst into the left of the area chasing a bouncing ball but lost out to Ricardo. Referee Busby was probably right to wave away the protests on that occasion.

On 44, Mehmeti’s shot was saved by Stolarczyk, who was then penalised for holding onto the ball for too long, referee Busby awarding a corner to the Blues, which came to nothing.

A frustrating half for Town, who had rarely looked at their most fluent and had made mistakes in possession throughout, both in their own half and when in promising attacking positions at the other end. Aside from O’Shea’s header, they created few other opportunities of note.

Leicester had only once tested Walton prior to the goal, despite having had opportunities to cause the keeper more problems, usually after the Blues had lost possession.

Just over a minute after the restart, Burns played a cross-field ball, which Davis nodded towards the far post, where Azon hooked high and behind.

The Blues threatened again on 48, Kipre playing down the left for Azon, who beat Okoli, who initially tried to trip the Spaniard, who broke away from him into the area before the Italian recovered and muscled him off the ball. The on-loan Como man claimed a penalty but somewhat ambitiously.

On 51, Bobby De Cordova-Reid was booked after fouling O’Shea and then trying to take the free-kick himself.

Four minutes later, the ball was worked to Burns on the right and the winger crossed low and found Mehmeti, but the former Bristol City man’s shot was on its way well wide when it was blocked by a defender.

The Albanian was furious he wasn’t awarded a penalty a minute later when Davis played him in on the left of the box and he was felled as he turned away from Winks, but the referee again waved away Town protests. It certainly wasn’t the most unlikely of claims.

Nunez was yellow-carded for a body check on Mavididi as Leicester broke away after a Town corner in the 58th minute, then as the game reached the hour mark the Chilean international scraped a shot wide from distance.

Ahead of the restart, Clarke took over from Neil, who had had an up and down game to say the least, Mehmeti moving to the middle and Nunez back into the midfield.

On 65, Nunez played a great ball in behind Okoli for Azon, who took the ball down equally as well, but shot wide.

Four minutes later, with the Blues continuing to dominate but without threatening further, Azon and Burns made way for Hirst, who joined Town from the Foxes, and Walle Egeli.

Soon after the changes, Clarke hit an effort from the left which struck Ricardo and deflected wide for a corner. Before it was taken, Leicester switched Mavididi and De Cordova-Reid, who left the field at a very leisurely pace to the annoyance of the Town support, for Mukasa and James.

In the 75th minute, Nunez sent a free-kick to the far post which O’Shea knocked across goal and Kipre scuffed to Stolarczyk when it looked easier to score. But the Portman Road crowd didn’t have to wait too much longer for an equaliser.

A minute later, Clarke brought the ball in from the left and wafted a cross to the far post where it was stabbed out by Thomas. Furlong nodded back towards goal, Mehmeti looked to turn it on, however, Okoli knocked it out to Walle Egeli on the right and the Norwegian smashed a low strike between Stolarczyk and the post to send Portman Road into raptures.

The Blues weren’t too far away from a second from their first attack after the restart, Mehmeti sending over a low cross which no one in a blue shirt could get onto.

With Town maintaining the pressure, Leicester made two more changes in the 83rd minute, Choudhury and Jordan Ayew replacing Ricardo and Daka.

Ayew, the scorer of the late, late equaliser for the Foxes in the corresponding fixture last season, immediately got into the action, sending a low ball across the face of the Town goal from the right.

The Blues made their final changes on 85, Taylor and Chuba Akpom taking over from Nunez and Mehmeti.

As the game moved into its penultimate minute, Hirst, Akpom and Taylor all had a stab at the ball in a goalmouth scramble following a Davis corner on the right, which led to another flag-kick on the same side, which O’Shea headed over at the far post. Ahead of the second set piece, Leicester had swapped Joe Aribo for Fatawu.

The fourth official indicated five additional minutes with the Blues still very much having the bit between their teeth and with the Foxes doing nothing other than defending their box.

Town thought they’d won it in the third additional minute, Clarke playing in Davis, whose low cross found Akpom but the on-loan Ajax man’s goal-bound shot was diverted wide for yet another corner, which in turn led to another flag-kick, which O’Shea headed into Stolarczyk’s arms.

Leicester sub James was booked for bringing down Clarke as the match moved into the final minute of time added on.

And following the free-kick, the Blues, as was the case the last time referee Busby was at Portman Road, felt they were denied a last-gasp penalty.

O’Shea crossed from the right and Kipre was hauled over by Choudhury. It looked as obvious a penalty as you’ll see but as in the Preston match, referee Busby waved away the protests.

Kipre was booked for showing his frustrations, then assistant manager Martyn Pert appeared to join him in the book as the Town bench showed their anger at the decision.

There was little time for any more action and the final whistle was greeted by boos aimed at the referee, while manager McKenna made a rare foray onto the pitch to approach the officials with a number of players also maintaining their dialogue.

Town will feel aggrieved and frustrated by the result and the manner in which the game ended, referee Busby having also failed to award two potential penalties in the closing moments of the 1-1 draw with Preston in January.

Similarly, the Blues were frustrated when they faced Leicester in the Premier League at Portman Road last season when they were also denied a penalty after Conor Chaplin was fouled and then had Kalvin Phillips sent off to add insult to injury.

Having put in a scruffy first-half display, Town wholly dominated the second with Leicester, who will feel they should have been awarded spot-kick in the first period for Davis’s shove, defending resolutely but with Town having created enough opportunities to have won it without requiring the late penalty, Kipre and Akpom both coming close in the latter stages.

The draw sees the Blues drop to fourth in the table, a point behind Millwall in third but with a game in hand on two of the sides above them - Middlesbrough are at QPR on Sunday - with a trip to Stoke City, who lost 2-0 at Swansea having had Wales international winger Sorba Thomas sent off before the break, on Tuesday.

Town: Walton, Furlong, O’Shea (c), Kipre, Davis, Matusiwa, Neil (Clarke 60), Burns (Walle Egeli 69), Nunez (Taylor 85), Mehmeti (Akpom 85), Azon (Hirst 69). Unused: Palmer, Greaves, Cajuste, McAteer. 

Leicester: Stolarczyk, Ricardo (Choudhury 83), Okoli, Nelson, Thomas, Winks, Skipp, Fatawu, De Cordova-Reid (James 70), Mavididi (Mukasa 70), Daka (Ayew 83). Unused: French, Aluko, Lascelles, Aribo, Richards. Referee: John Busby (Oxfordshire). Att: 28,704.

Photo: Matchday Images