James Norwood headed his ninth goal of the season but David Wheeler equalised for Wycombe Wanderers as the Blues and the table-topping Chairboys drew 1-1 at Adams Park. Norwood nodded in the opener on 54 but Wheeler looped home the leveller 12 minutes later.

Fresh from signing his new contract, Town boss Paul Lambert made two changes to the team which lost 5-3 at Lincoln on Sunday as his side faced the Chairboys, his first English club.

The Blues started in a 3-5-2 system with James Wilson returning to the backline alongside skipper Luke Chambers and Luke Woolfenden.

With Janoi Donacien dropping out of the 18 having suffered a knee injury against the Imps, Gwion Edwards and Luke Garbutt were the wing-backs.

Emyr Huws came into midfield for Andre Dozzell, who was on the bench, with Flynn Downes and Alan Judge, while James Norwood and Kayden Jackson were up front.

On the bench for the first time since suffering a knee injury in pre-season was midfielder Teddy Bishop. Freddie Sears was left out after playing 59 minutes at Lincoln having only recently returned from his ACL injury

For Wycombe, former Blues midfielder Matt Bloomfield skippered, while man mountain striker Adebayo Akinfenwa was on the bench.

After an uneventful opening at a sell-out Adams Park and on a heavy pitch, the home side should have gone in front via their first serious attack of the game in the sixth minute.

Alex Samuel managed to get on the ball on the right of the box close to the byline as Chambers tried to shield it away from him and out of play and crossed low to the far past from where Paul Smyth somehow put the ball the wrong side of the post with the gaol gaping.

Almost immediately, Town, wearing their Barcelona-style away kit, broke up the other end and Gwion Edwards struck a shot from the right of the area which Darius Charles cleared away from the line.

Smyth tried to make amends for his earlier miss on eight with a shot which was blocked, then two minutes later Joe Jacobson curled a 25-yard freekick wide.

The early stages of the game had quickly developed into an end-to-end affair and soon afterwards Edwards saw a cross from the right blocked, then on 12 Norwood was sent away on the left but shot over when he might feel he could have done better.

Seconds later, Nnamdi Ofoborh similarly went too high with a strike from distance for the Chairboys.

The chances dried up for the following 10 minutes as the two teams battled to get on top with the Blues passing the ball around with perhaps a little more patience than in some recent games and the very direct Wycombe looking to get it forward quickly.

As the game reached the half-hour mark, a long spell of Town possession was ended when Jackson was fouled 30 yards out. Garbutt took the freekick but was unable to repeat Sunday’s strike at Lincoln and the ball looped into the stand behind the goal.

The Blues were beginning to take charge and on 32 Norwood saw a shot blocked following a corner.

Two minutes later, Wilson was shown the game’s first yellow card for halting the breaking Smyth 10 yards outside the area. Jacobson curled the freekick deep into the Town fans massed behind that goal.

Wycombe keeper Ryan Allsop was forced into his first significant save of the game in the 37th minute when Chambers found Garbutt with a cross-field pass, the on-loan Everton man sent in a ball and Judge looped a header which Allsop clawed away for a corner.

The Chairboys’ only threat after the early stages had been set pieces and they were awarded another just outside the area on 40. Jacobson looped to the far post and a Nick Freeman shot was blocked.

As the fourth official raised his board indicated one further minute, Jacobson sent over another freekick, this time form the right. Charles flicked it on and Giles Phillips nodded well over at the far post. Referee Robert Lewis ended the half moments later.

Having been fortunate to escape going behind in the early stages, the Blues had begun to look the better side.

Edwards might have been unlucky with his early chance which was cleared away from the line, Norwood will probably feel he could have done better with his opportunity, while Judge forced a good save from Allsop with his header.

The final minutes of the period were very stop-start with the home side winning a lot of set pieces, from which they looked dangerous.

Town got the second half off to a bright start and might have taken the lead in the 47th minute when Judge was played in on goal between two defenders to the right of the box, however, Allsop quickly came off his line to save and Norwood’s follow-up was blocked.

The Blues came even closer to going in front in the 52nd minute when Judge fed Garbutt in down the left and the wing-back sent over a low cross which Norwood at the far post diverted just wide in front of the Town support.

Two minutes later, the striker did find the net for the ninth time this season. Jackson was fouled on the Town left by Anthony Stewart and Garbutt brilliantly whipped over a quickly-taken freekick immediately after Judge had placed the ball and Norwood headed home from a few feet before celebrating with the ecstatic Blues support behind the goal.

As the match moved into the 65th minute Wycombe introduced talismanic striker Akinfenwa for Smyth.

And a minute later, the Chairboys levelled with another goal the Blues’ backline and keeper Norris will want to forget.

Allsop played a long freekick forward from deep in his half, Akinfenwa flicked on and David Wheeler was somehow allowed to loop it over the unnecessarily advanced Norris and into the net.

The goal gave the home team and fans a boost of energy but the Blues might well have gone back in front in the 71st minute. Norwood crossed low behind Jackson but the ball was stabbed out to Judge, who hit a low shot which Allsop did well to save down to his left.

Akinfenwa continued to prove a danger for the home side, who had largely had the Blues pinned back in their own half since the goal, and on 75 the 37-year-old headed a freekick from deep wide at the far post.

Three minutes later, Woolfenden was booked for a high challenge, then in the 79th minute Town swapped goalscorer Norwood for Will Keane.

Town, who had seen much less of the ball since the equaliser, made a rare break forward in the 81st minute, a clearance eventually cannoning wide off Edwards.

Wycombe came close to going in front in the 84th minute when Samuel hooked an acrobatic effort across the face and wide.

A minute later, after a superb crunching Downes challenge midway inside the Wycombe half, Judge just failed to find Jackson with a deft ball over the top.

On 86 the Chairboys swapped the impressive Samuel for Scott Kashket, then with two minutes left on the clock Bishop made his return for Judge.

Neither side threatened in three minutes of injury time and in the end a draw was probably a fair result, even if Town will feel they should have won once they had got the lead.

The Blues began the half the better side and had been looking the more likely scorers when Norwood headed in the well-worked well-worked opener.

But after they had conceded what was a poor goal from a Town perspective, Wycombe were much the more dangerous side and had the better of the later chances.

A much better display from the Blues than at Lincoln or at home to Gillingham even if the winless League One run has now stretched to eight games - and the live-on-Sky lack of victories has increased to 16 - and Town are without a victory in all competitions over 90 minutes in 11.

The draw sees Wycombe stay top with the Blues down to fifth. Town are next in Leasing.com Trophy action at Exeter City on Saturday afternoon.

Wycombe: Allsop, Phillips, Stewart, Charles, Jacobson, Ofoborh, Bloomfield (c), Freeman, Wheeler, Smyth (Akinfenwa 65), Samuel (Kashket 86). Unused: Yates, Jombati, Pattison, Aarons, Parker.

Ipswich: Norris, Woolfenden, Chambers (c), Wilson, Edwards, Downes, Huws, Garbutt, Judge (Bishop 88), Jackson, Norwood (Keane 79). Unused: Holy, Nsiala, Kenlock, El Mizouni, Dozzell. Referee: Robert Lewis (Shrewsbury).

Photo: Pagepix

thechangingman added 17:20 - Jan 1 Looking at that form-table, MidasTouch, leaves me incredulous as to why we'd sign PL on a five-year contract at the moment!! Am I missing something??? He still had 18 months left on his current deal - why didn't we wait to see if he's able to turn things around. I JUST DON'T GET THIS... :0(
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Desertion_ added 17:24 - Jan 1 Disappointing. Current Felling after scoring is that we probably won't hang to a clean sheet and wont find a second goal. Another game against a team looking to gain promotion. Not going to get promoted if we can't take three points of teams around us. 5 year contract which I undestand what was a month ago but that's potentially a huge payout for something that feels more likely as the winless run continues. I feel a mistake has been made there, surely if we aren't promoted this season she shouldn't settle for the same a manger to take us forward. How many teams would settle for a winless run as we had with 'with one of the best' squads in the league. Don't wish to be negative... Also feel Judge isn't warrenting a place in the first eleven. Hasn't got legs to play out wide and when in the middle doenst play on half term, plays backwards and sideways and just looks to drop deep to lend the ball and get it off others, inaffective

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TimmyH added 17:25 - Jan 1 @thechangingman - no you're not missing anything, only this club (Evans) would do that to add to a long line of poor decisions he's made already in his tenure here.
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ShropshireBluenago09 added 17:26 - Jan 1 Good stuff at times mostly down the left via Garbutt. Formation and personel was good today. Thought Huws and Downes worked well, better than Skuse and Nolan. We really miss KVY. Edwards is just not up to it. Im convinced, if he was fit we would be top 2 still.
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jas0999 added 17:28 - Jan 1 Two very average teams, demonstrating how very poor League One is when Wycombe are top. Also, shows how poor we have been to now be sitting fifth! This was an improvement, but still by no means great. Defending was poor at times and our possession play was disappointing. Why on Earth a loanee is playing in goal above our player is bizarre, particularly considering how poor he's been. I'd send him back to Wolves, play our player consistently and put the young lad on the bench. We also give away far too many needless fouls - Wilson is a serial offender. Overall, it was better and may have been an okay result IF we were winning games. Sadly, that's the problem. Against League One sides, not Premier League or Championship, we have failed to win in Last ELEVEN matches. Won just once in fourteen. Whichever was you dress this up, it's not good enough. Shocking. The reward? Give the manager a three and a half year extension to his current deal. Remarkable and probably demonstrates where we are as a club under Evans ownership. Bizarre and poor decisions have led us to being an average League One club. Wycombe were there to be beaten. We failed. Again. Perhaps when I return to work, I'll deliberately under perform in the hope for a much better deal!

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Dolphinblue added 17:30 - Jan 1 Great performance boys...the return to form has begun...well done Lambert! 👍
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norfolkbluey added 17:30 - Jan 1 Why is Lambert still insisting on Norris? Holy is far better and dominates his area. We don't need Norris to flap and flop. It doesn't help the team confidence. Perhaps that's his last chance for the moment. It does look as though PL has finally got his best team and I'm hoping he plays them together next Saturday with Holy in goal. COYB's
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warktheline added 17:31 - Jan 1 Both teams will be playing Division 1 football next season! That's another guaranteed prediction !
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portmanteau added 17:35 - Jan 1 First time in ages that I have seen Town, courtesy of TV. Disappointed at the poor standard served up by both teams but acknowledge I am spoilt by watching so much premiership. Passing accuracy was woeful by Town, too much hoofball, head tennis and aimless passing to nobody in particular. First shot on target was not until 36th minute. Goal given away by Norris but Wycombe also missed a few by blasting into the stands. If this is the usual standard at the top of the table it must be pretty dire lower down where we are headed.

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midastouch added 17:38 - Jan 1 Wycombe might be top but they are no world beaters, they have a budget among the bottom 6 in the league and according to Matt Bloomfield they only had 9 players report to the first training session this season and thus their only aim was to avoid relegation. So they are a massive surprise package but it seems they are in danger of running out of steam. If we are serious about going up we should be beating these teams! If we can't beat Wycombe home or away what chance would we have back in the Championship away to a Leeds or Fulham? I thought we'd be bossing plenty of games in this league but even several of our wins have been far from convincing. Don't forget that Luton were smashing teams on a regular basis last season, now they are sitting joint bottom of the Championship with Barnsley. It's getting to the point that the gulf between the Championship and League One is as big as that between the Championship and Premier League. That didn't use to be the case (think Norwich and Southampton doing back-to-back promotions) but recently teams that have gone up from League One have had their work cut out staying in Championship.

4

herfie added 17:41 - Jan 1 As PL said on signing his extended contract, we're very much work in progress. In around 4 years' time we should be able to win games like these! Everyone sigh, and lower your expectations for this season. Seems that ME, Lee Evans and PL have effectively done so. Surprised? In truth, today's performance, albeit improved over recent displays, was about average for what is a pretty poor league. Not giving up hope by any means, but have to retain a sense of realism, based upon individuals' abilities and team performances.

6

BeattiesBackPocket added 17:42 - Jan 1 We are just missing that quality in the final 3rd for me none of the midfielders look remotely like scoring and the front two for the most part have no service. If we can sign a decent creative midfielder in the mould of Magilton we'd be doing better for me.
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TimmyH added 17:47 - Jan 1 Spot on @Midastouch - big gulf now between Championship and League One, could be the SKY TV money partly influencing the difference sadly. I don't think we're playing any better than last season.
2

DifferentGravy added 17:48 - Jan 1 Didnt see all of the second half but that was better....not great......but better. A clearance off the line and their keeper made some good saves. The work ethic was higher. we need to stick with roughly the same players for the next league game and give them the confidence and cohesion rather than second guessing the starting eleven all the time
4

dirtydingusmagee added 17:49 - Jan 1 if our squad is that good ,how are we sliding down table , cant be the manager he has just been awarded a new 5 year contract for his efforts, its a mystery.
2

runaround added 17:50 - Jan 1 Much better performance this afternoon and I thought we were slightly unfortunate not to win. Wycombe are horrible to watch but very effective at what they do but we battled them all the way until Norris had another brain fart. Quite why Holy doesn't get a chance I don't know? Cracking atmosphere in the away end today with a case of limbs when we scored. It just felt more together today & it feels like better times are ahead

5

Lathers added 17:55 - Jan 1 Marginally better? Maybe? Still pretty cr@p though. Norwood looks out of his depth, Jackson works hard but lacks real ability and Judge offers very little. We should have brought on Keane at 1-0 when Wycombe finally started pressing and there was space for Jackson to feed off Keane flick ons, but PL never seems to know what to do with his subs. I thought our defence, our passing and 1st touch today was dreadful, against a team who were there for the taking. I don't understand the timing of the contract extension or the reason for the reward. All very bizarre! And there was me hoping for a positive start to this decade!

2

Bert added 18:04 - Jan 1 Just about take a draw. As others have said, this league is there to be taken. Get our act together and long term faith from Lambert we could and should kick start our season.
2

Lightningboy added 18:17 - Jan 1 Decent performance & glad you've signed a new deal Lambo BUT for God's sake send that utter clown of a “goalkeeper” back to Wolves tonight.
4

Linkboy13 added 18:22 - Jan 1 In a couple of months time we'll be saying we can still make the play offs. Eleven games without a win is more than a blip. Dred to think what the crowd will be next season.
4

AlexanderFields added 18:23 - Jan 1 Watched most of it on TV. Pýortmanteau has just about summed it up. The standard is awful. These people are actually paid to play football and they practise all week. Why can't they make a better job of it on the day?
4

Reecex28 added 18:25 - Jan 1 Best I've seen us play for a while - controlled passing and keeping it on the floor. We will win more matches than we lose playing like this. Garbutt class and Downes outstanding -keep the faith.
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Dolphinblue added 18:42 - Jan 1 Anybody who thought it gonna be easy is a fool. We are in the pkayoffs, played well today, will be in the mix come the end of the season.....Coyb...enjoy the ride unless yr part of the.......thenegcrew
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Dolphinblue added 18:43 - Jan 1 Great performance today, Lambert will become a good manager for itfc...Coyb...get behind the manager unless yr a member of.....thenegcrew 😁
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OliveR16 added 18:48 - Jan 1 What Wycombe have - and we largely lack - is teamwork and pace. I thought that, again, we look ponderous (or is it a misplaced arrogance?). You can see why PL couldn't cut it at Wycombe with his obsessions with hugeness and more rotation than a helicopter pilot. Ainsworth just gets his team playing enthusiastically to win for each other. I think we'll remain huge, dizzy and in League 1. I'd be more optimistic for Wycombe.

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