Veteran striker Dion Dublin twice hit the woodwork as Championship strugglers Norwich and Leicester cancelled each other out in a stalemate at Carrow Road.

Much of the pre-match talk had centred on Dublin's decision to announce his retirement at the end of the season.

The 38-year-old nearly scored when he got his head to a corner from Mark Fotheringham with just five minutes gone only to see the ball come back off the crossbar.

He also headed against a post from Lee Croft's cross with seconds left as both sides had to be content with a point.

The Foxes themselves were denied by the woodwork 19 minutes from full-time when new signing Barry Hayles fired against the post from Iain Hume's centre.

Leicester striker Steve Howard had been presented with the first chance of the game with barely a minute on the clock but his right-foot shot from 30 yards missed the target.

The Canaries had the ball in the net after three minutes when Ryan Bertrand crossed for Croft to finish well only for the goal to be chalked off for offside.

Fotheringham then forced a good save from goalkeeper Ben Alnwick, who also did well to cut out a cross from Mo Camara.

Dublin was in the centre of proceedings again after 15 minutes when Darel Russell crossed, only for the former Manchester United striker to be penalised for a foul on Alnwick.

Ched Evans was next to try his luck for Norwich but his right-footed curler from 12 yards was blocked by Gareth McAuley.

At the other end Leicester threatened when Gabor Bori drilled in a shot from the right which flew harmlessly wide.

Norwich came close again when Jon Otsemobor crossed for Evans to volley but Bruno N'Gotty did well to get in the way and the danger passed.

Alnwick was forced into another decent save just before the half-hour mark, from Fotheringham's free-kick, before the Foxes keeper produced a fabulous save to keep out Croft's shot.

Croft tried his luck again moments later, this time from 30 yards, but Alnwick was once more equal to it, while Fotheringham fired wide as half-time approached.

Dublin forced another save out of Alnwick with a good header from Croft's cross, and came close seven minutes into the second period when his volley from 12 yards brought a brilliant save from Alnwick.

Hayles came even closer for Leicester when he got on the end of Hume's cross after 71 minutes only to see his shot hit the post.

Alnwick then again came up trumps when he did well to parry a shot from Jamie Cureton, with N'Gotty clearing the resulting corner.

There was still time for Dublin to hit the woodwork for the second time in the dying stages, again with a header, this time from Croft's cross.

Teams:

Norwich Marshall, Otsemobor, Shackell, Doherty, Camara, Croft, Fotheringham, Russell, Bertrand, Dublin, Evans (Cureton 75).

Subs Not Used: Gilks, Pattison, Spillane, Martin.

Booked: Russell, Fotheringham.

Leicester Alnwick, Stearman, N'Gotty, McAuley, Mattock (James Chambers 54), Laczko (Hayles 46), Oakley, Wesolowski, Bori (King 83), Hume, Howard.

Subs Not Used: Henderson, Fryatt.

Booked: Stearman, Alnwick, Wesolowski.

Att: 25,462

Ref: Tony Bates (Staffordshire).