Arijanet Muric went from international zero to Ipswich hero after helping his team get a point in a goalless draw against Brighton.

Muric was one of three Kosovo players who were sent home early last week for allegedly violating team regulations.

However, the 25-year-old cemented his place in Ipswich’s good books with a superb double save just before halftime.

Muric dove to his right to block Georginio Rutter’s effort from eight yards out, then got back up off the ground to prevent Kaoru Mitoma a tap-in at the far post.

It meant Ipswich had treble their season points total, however they came close to snatching an improbable victory when Liam Delap’s single effort struck the post.

Muric was active from the start, diving swiftly to tip Carlos Baleba’s attempt from the edge of the box wide.

Brighton went on to dominate the first half, although they were guilty of trying to stroll the ball into the net, with Rutter, Yankuba Minteh, and Danny Welbeck all passing when a shooting would have been more beneficial.

Mitoma immediately grabbed onto Welbeck’s flick and surged through, but his touch was too strong, and Muric gathered.

After Muric ensured that Ipswich went into the break unbeaten, Rutter appeared to have put Welbeck through on goal seconds later, but Dara O’Shea dived in to make a goal-saving stop.

Rutter, who made his Premier League debut for Brighton after joining from Leeds in the summer, had a shot deflected off target before Welbeck fired a free kick inches wide.

The Seagulls were almost punished for their squandered opportunities when Delap sprinted the length of the pitch, surpassing Yasin Ayari and Jan Paul van Hecke, before clipping his angled effort against the far post.

It was Ipswich’s first shot in fury all day, and cheers broke out in the away end as they forced their first corner 64 minutes into the game.

Nonetheless, the visitors showed some intent, and Joel Veltman, fresh from his supporting role in Declan Rice’s red card in the draw at Arsenal a week ago, had to be alert to deny Omari Hutchinson a shot on goal.

Brighton signed Ferdi Kadioglu, a £25 million Turkish midfielder, but his first move in a blue and white shirt was to lose the ball to Hutchinson, who scampered through on goal but shot too near to Bart Verbruggen.

Muric saved additional shots from Julio Enciso and Mitoma before Seagulls replacement Evan Ferguson nearly won it with a curler that went just wide.

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