Ipswich 1-1 Sheffield United: James Beattie penalty earns Blades a point

Nerveless James Beattie stuck with his old penalty routine to earn Sheffield United a richly-deserved point right at the death.

"It would have been cruel if we had to leave with nothing and it was down to me to make sure we didn't," said the big frontman.

Ipswich substitute - and former Blade - Alan Quinn handled a rising Beattie shot as his side led 1-0 in the 90th minute.

After placing the ballon the spot, Beattie turned his back to goal before swivelling round to fire into the right corner as his ex-Everton colleague Richard Wright dived the wrong way.

"It was a real high pressure situation and I resisted any temptation to change anything. Thankfully I got it right," said Beattie, who had seen Wright pull off a blinding save from a Matt Kilgallon header.

Beattie's ninth goal of the season equalised an Ipswich first-half penalty.

Tommy Miller made no mistake after a handball by Kilgallon from a Jon Stead cross.

Eagle-eyed assistant referee Justin Comley spotted that one as he did the Quinn handling that setup the last-gasp drama.

Miller has remarkably never missed a spot-kick in 30 attempts for The Tractor Boys, Sunderland and Hartlepool.

The midfield man had been substituted and was on the bench when his opening goal was levelled.

"I was just gutted of course to look on as two points were dropped. But that's football," he said.

Miller admitted that there was disappointment in the home dressing room after Ipswich failed to impose themselves on tough opponents. He said: "We didn't get our normal passing game going.

"They restricted us as we tried to pass the ball through. We can play so much better, we allowed them to get on top of us."

Blades boss Kevin Blackwell said proudly: "We kept going, we didn't give in and well deserved our point."

Get your hands on this week's estimated jackpot of £100,000 by playing the New Football Pools .

Find out what our resident Premier League fan bloggers think - and let them know your views.

Follow every Premier League game live with our brilliant Match Tracker .