Ipswich Town 0 Wolves 0 - Report and pictures

But Paul Lambert's team were left ruing their luck after hitting the woodwork twice in the final five minutes.

Jon Dadi Bodvarsson struck a post and Ben Marshall curled a free kick onto the bar as Wolves were left frustrated.

Analysis

Well, it's a start.

Wolves stopped the rot at Portman Road to end their six-game winless streak - but yet again it was a case of what might have been, writes Tim Spiers.

In fact this was deja vu from Reading just four days ago. Again it was a sleep-inducing first half of little to no action. Again Wolves greatly improved after the break and controlled the game for long spells. Again they couldn't make their dominance count.

This time they hit the post and the crossbar, both in the final five minutes, but it just wouldn't go in.

At least they avoided losing six consecutive matches at this level for the first time since 1984/85. They also kept their first clean sheet since January. Small steps, but steps nonetheless.

If Wolves had succumbed to their old boss Mick McCarthy's team and lost seven matches in a row, the knives would had been out for Lambert.

They would also have moved to within goal difference of being in the relegation zone.

But now they can at least see the next week as a window of opportunity. Wolves host Rotherham on Saturday - a team that has earned one solitary point from 18 away matches this season - before next Tuesday's trip to Brentford, a game on hand on all of their relegation rivals bar Blackburn.

If Lambert can make it a dream week, Wolves can pull clear of the mess they still find themselves in.

As at Reading on Saturday changes were expected, but yet again Lambert had a few surprises up his sleeve, the main one being to drop £13m record signing Helder Costa to the bench.

Danny Batth, Matt Doherty, Jack Price, Andreas Weimann and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson came into what looked like a hard-working team set up not to get beat.

And that's exactly how it played out in a truly dire first half. Wolves gave little away, but created next to nothing themselves.

They did, as is the fashion these days, have a contentious decision go against them -Edwards saw his header from a tight angle blocked and it appeared to hit Knudsen's hand to prevent it creeping into the net. But is wasn't given.

The two teams had one sniff of goal apiece - with Carl Ikeme having to get down low to save David McGoldrick's shot.

That was pretty much it, although Doherty was also in the right place to clear in front of his own goal after Tom Lawrence skinned Kortney Hause and crossed low into the box.

Wolves added a new tactic - the long throws of Ben Marshall, who was their best player in a first half team performance that could kindly be described as industrious.

The long balls to Bodvarsson were too frequent and not enough players were on the same wavelength. Doherty and Hause were nervy at the back and, while all three midfielders closed down well enough, they conceded possession too readily, particularly Romain Saiss.

All in all it was a tough watch. The 300 or so who had made the very long trip east - one of Wolves' lowest away followings in the past decade - weren't exactly being rewarded with a feast of football.

The second half, mercifully, improved. The game opened up and both sides had chances, with Ipswich threatening with a barrage of set pieces.

Wolves were starting to look useful on the counter attack and Weimann began to heavily influence proceedings down the right.

It was the Austrian's low cross to Bodvarsson which led to Wolves' first big chance of the game when Marshall side-footed wide.

The front three were all getting into good areas but, yet again, that crucial killer instinct was deserting Wolves, with a number of near misses in terms of the final pass as Lambert's team began to dominate proceedings.

It was the same old story. Wolves had most of the play and had Ipswich on the back foot for long spells but keeper Bartosz Bialkowski wasn't tested.

On came Costa with eight to go, replacing the impressing Weimann. They continued to press - Bodvarsson hit a post from a tight angle and then Marshall curled a free kick onto the bar, both within four minutes of each other.

The footballing Gods had deserted Wolves.

Key moments

20 - Edwards' header is blocked on the line - Wolves appeal for handball but it's not given.

45 - McGoldrick is in space on the left of the box, but Ikeme makes a decent low save.

53 - Good counter involving Weimann and Bodvarsson before Marshall sidefoots wide from 15 yards.

85 - Bodvarsson works his way into a shooting position on the right of the six-yard box but cannons his shot off the near post.

88 - Marshall curls a superb 20-yard free kick onto the bar and it bounces to safety

Teams

Ipswich (3-5-2): Bialkowski; Chambers (c), Berra, Smith (Kenlock, 61); Emmanuel (Moore, 84), Skuse, Diagouraga, Ward, Knudsen; Lawrence, McGoldrick. Subs: Gerken, Spence, Bru, Sears, Pitman.

Wolves (4-2-3-1): Ikeme; Doherty, Batth (c), Hause, Saville; Price, Saiss; Marshall, Edwards, Weimann (Costa, 82); Bodvarsson. Subs: Lonergan, Iorfa, Stearman, Coady, Cavaleiro, Dicko.

Attendance: 15,076 (443 Wolves fans)

Referee: Darren Deadman (Peterborough)

Position in the table

21st (36 points from 34 matches)