West Bromwich Albion would have been the happier of the two sides come full-time at Portman Road, Carlos Corberan's Baggies battling to a 2-2 draw versus Ipswich Town despite the hosts dominating for large spells.
Scoring two goals from just two shots on target is a very impressive statistic from the away side's perspective, although lone striker Brandon Thomas-Asante couldn't quite get on the scoresheet himself.
A passive display from the West Brom number 21 saw Corberan haul off the striker on the 56th minute mark, only for his replacement in Daryl Dike to heartbreakingly pick up another serious-looking injury moments after being introduced.
This could well throw up a striker selection dilemma for the Spanish boss to resolve, with Thomas-Asante in real danger of being dropped for tonight's game with Cardiff City regardless of Dike re-entering the Hawthorns treatment room.
Thomas-Asante's performance vs Ipswich in numbers
Thomas-Asante will have been left frustrated with how his time on the pitch against the Tractor Boys played out, with his barren patch in front of goal in the Championship stretching tothree games in a row now after his torrid showing at Portman Road.
Only managing 17 touches of the ball in total in Suffolk, the 25-year-old was isolated up top on his own with zero shots managed on Václav Hladký's shaky goal.
Minutes played
56
Goals scored
0
Shots on goal
0
Touches
17
Passes managed
9/10
Duels won
3/7
With a number of below-par performances before this no-show at Portman Road further troubling his cemented first-team spot – failing to win a single duel against Birmingham the game prior to this Ipswich draw – the time could be right for Corberan to give a young January recruit an opportunity to impress against the Bluebirds tonight ahead of Thomas-Asante.
Thomas-Asante's replacement at West Brom
Yet to be given time to really to cut his teeth at West Brom – only given one 28-minute run-out so far against Birmingham – the Baggies boss could ruffle a fair few feathers by chucking West Ham United loanee Callum Marshall into his lineup.
Having one effort blocked in that brief cameo at the Hawthorns against Tony Mowbray's Blues, Marshall will hope he can find the back of the net against Cardiff if selected to show he can score goals for fun in men's football and not just in the comforts of youth action.
Bagging a remarkable 19 goals from just 16 games playing for the West Ham U21s just this season, everyone with connections to West Brom will hope Marshall won't flounder making the step-up transitioning to the intense demands of Championship football.
With Thomas-Asante passenger-like in the past couple of second-tier games, and Dike facing another lengthy spell on the sidelines again with a ruptured Achilles tendon, Marshall will need to seize his opportunity when it comes his way.
Described as being an "incredible" talent by football scout Antonio Mango when emerging as a breakout star for the Hammers at youth level, Marshall would no doubt endear himself to his new fanbase if he could bag his first-ever Baggies goal against Cardiff.
The teenager could well see Dike pulling up with yet another injury as one way he can begin to make waves in the Baggies first team, able to push Thomas-Asante all the way for a starting spot as a consequence.