Nottingham Forest dropped out of the Championship playoff places after they were held to a draw by Ipswich Town.

Billy Davies's side looked lively in the opening stages and Simon Cox had a penalty shout dismissed when he tried to round keeper Dean Gurken in the area and went to ground.

Midway through the first half, he rose to head the ball past Gurken, but his effort came back off the underside of the crossbar.

The only notable chance of the opening 45 minutes for Ipswich fell to Daryl Murphy, who rose highest in a goalmouth scramble, but saw his effort go narrowly wide of Karl Darlow's goal.

Billy Davies introduced Darius Henderson midway through the second half in an attempt to break the stalemate and his substitution almost worked, as the former Watford target man saw his header from Henri Lansbury's cross kept out by the visitors' keeper.

Moments earlier Ryan Tunnicliffe played in David McGoldrick for the away side, but he flashed his effort wide.

In the end, both teams played out a goalless draw and the result did little for either side's promotion aspirations, with Forest dropping out of the playoff places and Ipswich staying in mid-table.