Albion's glaring need for a new striker was reinforced at Withdean last night.

A drab goalless draw against a Burnley side sadly lacking in ambition, combined with a surprise win for managerless Leicester at QPR, dropped the Seagulls back into the Championship relegation zone.

As manager Mark McGhee put it, Albion were a "player away from winning".

They looked the likely victors throughout a turgid encounter but the absence of a focal point in the attack has never been more obvious.

The Seagulls are two goals away from reaching 5,000. You get the feeling the sides could have played for 5,000 minutes last night without finding the net.

Burnley's return from a warm weather break in Teneriffe did little to change their fortunes.

Steve Cottrill's side, now with only two points in seven games, have slipped out of play-off contention.

Albion would, of course, swap places with them. Their chances of playing Burnley again next season could hinge on McGhee landing the wiley Neil Shipperley and the promising Lee Barnard on-loan from Sheffield United and Spurs respectively.

The return of Wayne Henderson in goal at the expense of Michel Kuipers was the only change to the Albion team beaten in the previous outing at Sheffield United, although Doug Loft appeared in the squad for the first time as one of the substitutes.

Michael Ricketts, signed on loan from Leeds for the rest of the season, made his debut up front for Burnley in place of Gifton Noel-Williams and Mike Duff came in at rightback for Wayne Thomas.

Ricketts, once of Bolton and England, started alone in attack but the Lancastrian visitors' tactics were not as negative as they appeared.

They were quite prepared to get men forward quickly from midfield in support and Albion struggled to make much early headway.

Withdean was silent, which was understandable because there was very little for the crowd to get excited about.

Seb Carole, partnering Gary Hart in a makeshift attack for the third match running, was once again the main creative force.

The Seagulls gradually warmed to their task as the first half wore on but Brian Jensen, the Burnley keeper, had only a handful of routine saves to make.

The most significant of these was from a 25-yard effort by Alex Frutos when Richard Carpenter played a free-kick to him sideways. The shot took a slight deflection off a Burnley player but it did not change the direction of the ball sufficiently to bother Jensen.

The best attempt in the opening half hour was provided by Joel Lynch, the 18-year-old making only his fourth senior appearance at leftback.

The youngster's low drive from 25 yards had Jensen scrambling to his right as it went narrowly wide.

The initial impetus from the Burnley midfielders had evaporated as a dour and dire half drew to a conclusion.

It was not until first half stoppage time that Burnley produced a worthwhile attempt on goal, James O'Connor's shot from outside the area curling wide of the left hand post as Henderson hurried across his line to cover it.

With the pattern unchanged, McGhee decided a more robust presence was required up front so Colin Kazim-Richards was introduced for Carole eight minutes into the second half.

Kazim-Richards' consolation in the 3-1 defeat at Sheffield United was his fifth goal of the season, all of them as a substitute. The young striker had an opportunity to extend the unusual sequence midway through the second half when Hart picked him out inside the Burnley box with a diagonal pass but he blazed over.

Albion, as had been the case for most of the contest, looked more likely to break the suffocating stalemate, although they were still finding it difficult to carve out clear chances.

Paul McShane was on target when the teams drew 1-1 at Turf Moor in September and the on-loan Manchester United centre half almost staged a repeat with 20 minutes left when he headed on to the roof of the net from Carpenter's corner.

A shot by Paul Reid from an acute angle gave Jensen another straightforward stop as Albion's shortcomings up front remained plain for all to see.

Burnley, reduced to the occasional counter-attack, wasted a rare opportunity to test the untroubled Henderson, Gareth O'Connor's cross-shot clearing the bar on the overlap from a pass by his namesake James.

Burnley's rugged approach was emphasised by the 21 free-kicks they conceded. They left with a point but made few friends in the process.

Results elsewhere were mixed for Albion. As well as Leicester winning, Millwall picked up a useful point at Cardiff.

At least Sheffield Wednesday and Hull both lost at home, so the fight for survival is still congested.

  • Albion (4-4-2): Henderson 7; El-Abd 7, McShane 7, Butters 7, Lynch 7; Reid 7, Carpenter 7, Hammond 7, Frutos 7; Hart 7, Carole 6. Subs: Kuipers, Mayo, Robinson, Kazim-Richards 6 for Carole (withdrawn, 53), Loft.
  • Burnley (4-5-1): Jensen; Duff, McGreal, Sinclair, Harley; Elliott, Hyde, J O'Connor, G O'Connor, Branch; Ricketts. Subs: Karbassiyoon, Noel-Williams, McCann for Elliott (withdrawn, 80), Spicer for G O'Connor (withdrawn, 90), Courtney.
  • Matchfacts
  • - Shots on goal: Albion 4 Burnley 0.

- Shots off goal: Albion 4 Burnley 3.

- Corners: Albion 3 Burnley 3.

- Offside: Albion 0 Burnley 4.

- Free-kicks: Albion 15 Burnley 21.

  • Albion bookings: None
  • Burnley bookings: Harley (51, foul), Sinclair (68, unsporting behaviour), Ricketts (84, unsporting behaviour)
  • Albion scorers: None
  • Burnley scorers: None