Fulham toil against strugglers again as Jiménez rescues point

Imagine where Fulham would be if they could see off the strugglers. They averted a rare defeat when Raúl Jiménez converted his second penalty of the afternoon at the start of added time but never did enough to overcome a well-drilled Ipswich.

- Nick Ames

At times it was reminiscent of the draw here a fortnight ago with Southampton and, while nobody in this part of west London could cavil at a run of one defeat in 12 games, a dash more cutting edge would surely see them in fairytale territory by now.

Jiménez picked himself up to score confidently after twisting Leif Davis inside out and coaxing the Ipswich left-back into a foul next to the byline.

The gut punch for Kieran McKenna's team was that, seconds previously, their substitute Jack Clarke had been a post's width from guaranteeing them the points.

They could nonetheless return to Suffolk feeling consoled: the next four months will undoubtedly be rocky but they look resilient and do not carry themselves as if destined for a return to the Championship.

For Fulham there was the frustration that, for all their near three-quarter share of possession, clear chances were few.

Much of their annoyance was directed at the referee, Darren Bond, for his handling of some borderline calls but in truth there was little to bristle about once the dust had settled.

The Ipswich goalkeeper Christian Walton was only called upon to make two significant saves and that was a bigger factor than any officiating gripes.