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Cardiff's winless run stretched to six games as they played out a dreary draw against relegation-threatened Brighton.

A forgettable first half prompted boos from the Bluebirds' fans as neither side played with any fluency.

The second period was only marginally better as Cardiff's Aron Gunnarsson and Kenwyne Jones both missed free headers.

The result leaves Cardiff just six points above the relegation zone, while Brighton are now level on points with the bottom three.

With both sides entering this match having lost four of their last five fixtures, this seemed a clash between two teams in apparent freefall.

While Cardiff's run of one win in 10 league games had increased pressure on manager Russell Slade, Brighton were in the more precarious position of being just one place and two points above the relegation zone.

The two sides' poor form was evident in a scrappy opening at Cardiff City Stadium which was almost entirely devoid of scoring opportunities.

Cardiff's best effort was Sean Morrison's diving header which bounced over, while Brighton's only shot on goal from Rohan Ince was blocked.

There were cheers early into the second half, but of the ironic sort as Gunnarsson registered the game's first shot on target with a deflected strike from 20 yards.

It was not until 70 minutes had passed that Brighton had a meaningful effort, as Lewis Dunk headed wide from Joao Teixeira's free-kick.

Cardiff missed a golden opportunity soon afterwards as an unmarked Gunnarsson headed over from a Peter Whittingham corner.

Jones had a similarly inviting chance moments later, but he nodded Craig Noone's excellent cross narrowly wide as the game finished goalless to heap yet more pressure on Slade.

Cardiff manager Russell Slade:

"It was poor, it was a really poor game in that first half where the two sides cancelled each other out.

"We tried to show more intent after the break by going with two strikers up front and we had two decent chances to win the game.

"You would have to say that [top six] is now unrealistic. If you were being honest, we would have to put some run together to get us up there.

"That does not mean it is impossible, it can happen, but we do not look capable of that at the minute. We have had two draws in a row and we are not picking up wins."

Brighton manager Chris Hughton:

"It was a hard earned draw for us and we have to be happy. This is a difficult place to come, they are a good side and we knew what we were up against.

"They are direct and you have to be able to cope with that. Kenwyne Jones is better than many at that sort of thing and we handled him pretty well.

"So I felt we could have capitalised on the possession we had and some breaks we formed well. I am disappointed we did not make more of our opportunities, but we deserved nothing less than a draw."