Northampton and Burton played out a drab goalless draw at Sixfields on Saturday.
The home side hit the woodwork in the second minute and then again in stoppage-time but very little happened in between.
Northampton were fractions away with only 90 seconds played when Callum Morton’s left-footed effort clipped the base of the post before Will Hondermarck and Mitch Pinnock were wasteful with long-range efforts.
Burton improved and were the more dangerous team for most of a scrappy first half but they struggled to create clear-cut chances as Ryan Sweeney and Tomas Kalinauskas were both denied by Lee Burge, while Ben Whitfield volleyed over.
Neither team had done enough to earn an advantage before half-time and there continued to be a lack of quality and excitement in the second half.
Ben Whitfield saw two long-range efforts kept out by Burge but Northampton so nearly nicked all three points in stoppage-time when Sam Hoskins’ low shot was brilliantly tipped onto the post by Max Crocombe.
