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Ben Pringle scored his second Ipswich goal in only his fourth game

Ben Pringle's strike gave Ipswich a win over Nottingham Forest at Portman Road to move the hosts within one point of the Championship play-off places.

Forest came the closest in a first half of few chances when defender Matt Mills headed a corner against the bar.

Pringle, on loan from Fulham, scored his second in successive games with an effort that went in off the post.

Thereafter, Forest failed to seriously trouble keeper Bartosz Bialkowski as they lost for the fourth straight game.

The result mirrors last Saturday, when Ipswich beat Huddersfield 1-0 thanks to a goal from Pringle, who has impressed in his four games since moving from Craven Cottage.

Following Sheffield Wednesday's defeat by Rotherham, Mick McCarthy's side close the gap to the play-offs, while Forest have lost four Championship games in a row for the first time since December 2011.

Dougie Freedman's side did have the clearer opportunities in the first half, with Ipswich keeper Bialkowski needing to be at his best to stop Nelson Oliveira's curling effort.

Following Pringle's goal Ipswich almost grabbed another when Brett Pitman forced Dorus de Vries into a fine save as Ipswich extended their unbeaten run against Forest to six games.

Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy: "They were better than us in the first half and created a few chances, hitting the crossbar and Bart making a couple of good saves.

"But we were better in the second half and played some good football.

"Forest are a good side with good players and we had to work for everything to eke out the win. The upshot of it is that we kept a clean sheet and scored."

Nottingham Forest boss Dougie Freedman: "We had three or four good chances in the first half - we certainly created enough to win the game.

"But our inability to score is crucifying us right now. The second half was more even and Ipswich managed to scramble a goal. We huffed and puffed but couldn't find an equaliser.

"I wanted us to give it a go today and, from a performance point of view, we were on the front foot.

"But we probably now need to go back to being resolute and hard to beat."