IPSWICH Town manager Paul Jewell was disappointed his side couldn’t carry their first half dominance into the second period of this afternoon’s goalless draw at Derby County.

The Blues created the better chances in the opening period; home keeper Frank Fielding making good saves from Michael Chopra and Lee Martin, with the hosts restricted to counter-attack attempts.

Derby were on the front foot throughout the second period though, forcing 10 corners, hitting the post through Ben Davies and forcing Aaron Cresswell to clear off the line.

Town provided very little attacking threat after the interval, although Jay Emmanuel-Thomas did hit the post in a rare foray forward.

“People normally remember the second half of matches don’t they?” said Jewell. “But I thought first half we were excellent, I thought some of our play was terrific, we just couldn’t find that cutting edge.

“It was a classic game of two halves. We were better then them first half and they put us under severe pressure second half.

“I thought the back four played excellently, there were a lot of corners and we dealt with them well.

“I was disappointed with our second half performance going forward though because I thought first half some of our passing was slick. Some of the situations we got in we should have made more of and we didn’t.”

Town have now lost just twice in their last 14 games, with this their 12th shut-out of the campaign.

“The pleasing thing is we kept a clean sheet,” said Jewell.

“I’ve just said to the players in there, it’s obviously been an Achilles heel of ours conceding goals – and that’s not just been down to the back four.

“In all areas we dominated first half, but in the second half the ball came back too easy and we had to defend for our lives.

“Second half we carried very little threat and that disappointed me because first half we were excellent.”

With Town hosting Leicester on Monday, Jewell added: “I don’t think we can use tiredness as an excuse. We certainly didn’t look tired first half, but second half we just didn’t get hold of the ball and we didn’t pass it.

“You have to give Derby credit for the way they played though. This isn’t an easy place to come, Nigel (Clough) has got them going at home and I think they had won three out of their previous four here.”

Rams boss Nigel Clough said: “I thought in the first half they bossed it, had the majority of the play, but we got in the better situations. Once again though we didn’t make the most of them.

“They had a few long-range shots in the first half, but I actually thought we had the best chance when Gareth Roberts crossed it and Theo (Robinson) toed it just wide.

“That was the story of the day for us. There was plenty of corners and plenty of pressure, but we just couldn’t get that bit of luck in the area.

“The majority of the game was played in their half, but we’re pleased with the clean sheet because we don’t get many of those here. It’s out first 0-0 at home this season.”

– See Monday’s EADT and Ipswich Star for full match analysis.