Nottingham Forest playmaker Morgan Gibbs-White has urged his team-mates to be more clinical in front of goal after seeing another Premier League win slip away at Portman Road. Despite dominating Friday night's clash against Ipswich Town, the visitors had to settle for a 1-1 draw after squandering a host of clear-cut chances.
Midfielder laments missed Suffolk chances
Gibbs-White believes victories will soon arrive for Oliver Glasner's side if they cure the goalscoring woes that cost them two points in Suffolk. Neco Williams cushioned home Daniel Munoz's 13th-minute cross for his first goal since April, before Nikola Milenkovic's short 41st-minute backpass let Julio Enciso slot his maiden Ipswich strike past Matz Sels. Ending a three-game losing run lifted the visitors above Coventry City and Tottenham into 16th.
Goal-line clearances deny dominant visitors
The Tricky Trees generated 2.31 expected goals from 17 attempts on Friday, taking their league tally to 137 shots - second only to Manchester United's 138 - despite netting a joint-low six goals and dropping seven points from winning positions, just one shy of last term's entire total of eight. Returning playmaker Gibbs-White saw an effort stopped by Christian Walton's toe and cleared off the line by Leif Davis, who also hooked away Dan Ndoye's strike.
Speaking to Sky Sports about his team's profligacy in the final third, Gibbs-White said: "This is a question we have been asking ourselves in training. We have been doing shooting drills and if you had seen how they were going in yesterday, it was top. But they just were not in the game. It is a topic of discussion and it is not good enough but I am proud of the boys for keeping going and performing high.
"It is a massive mentality and this is a bad phase that we are going through but we need to stay positive, keep the togetherness and mentality and performances. If we keep performing like this, surely we will have to win. The second-half, we were completely dominant and we should have won the game in my eyes. As long as we keep performing like this surely we have to win."
Controversial refereeing decision sparks debate
Controversy erupted in the 48th minute when Issa Diop felled James McAtee as the midfielder broke through. After initially waving play on, referee Thomas Bramall checked the pitchside monitor for a potential red card before booking the defender, explaining that McAtee "had knocked the ball to the right side of the goal". Speaking to Sky Sports, Glasner insisted it was a "clear red card", though he "liked" the official reviewing the screen and following the "right procedure".
Forest piled on late pressure as unmarked defender Murillo headed wide, former Ipswich striker Liam Delap nodded over from six yards and dragged another effort past the post, and Callum Hudson-Odoi fired off target, while Jack Clarke curled wide for Gary O'Neil's ninth-placed hosts.
Testing fixtures precede international break
Although Friday's point nudged Forest out of the drop zone on six points, weekend results elsewhere could immediately plunge them back into the bottom three as they chase just a second league win under Glasner. The East Midlands outfit travel to Brentford next weekend looking to finally convert their high shot volume into goals. They then host Manchester City on November 7 before the upcoming international break.