BEN Mee admitted he was at a loss to explain why he had a goal ruled out against Ipswich Town.

The Clarets kicked off 2016 with a goalless draw at home to Mick McCarthy’s fellow promotion challengers.

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But it could - and should - have been different, after Mee headed in a David Jones corner in the first half.

Mee’s initial header was saved by goalkeeper Dean Gerken on the line, but the defender reacted well to convert the rebound.

However, referee Peter Bankes blew for a foul - seemingly on the keeper after he went to ground in making the save - much to Burnley’s frustration.

“The referee said there were two fouls, but nobody really knew who he blew the foul for,” said Mee, whose only goal of the season came at Bristol City in August.

“It was a strange one.

“He (the referee) just said there were two fouls, he didn’t say who on - maybe the keeper. A couple of lads said he just went to the ground.

“Nobody’s owned up to anything (if there was).”

It was not the only decision that Bankes got wrong, after Andre Gray was impeded at least once with the potential of a clear run at goal.

“He got his body in the way, but it’s one of them, it’s a close one. We’re disappointed but hopefully it will even out as the season goes on,” added Mee, who preferred to concentrate on the positives of securing a third straight home clean sheet - a second in succession for him at centre half - and ninth shut-out of the season, against a side who had won their previous five away games.

“It was a close game, not the prettiest of games but two teams battling it out, and maybe it was a fair result. We might have just edged it with chances.

“They’re a very organised side and physical. Fair play to them, they’ve come here and got a point.

“They have two good strikers. (Daryl) Murphy’s been around for a while in the Championship and he’s scored a lot of goals last year so he’s a threat but I felt like we dealt with him quite well.”

But Mee added: “It’s a better result for them, I think, than for ourselves.

“We needed to go and win the game. It would have been nice to catch up on points with Brighton, who got beat on New Year’s Day.

“But it’s a long season and we’ve still got plenty of time.”

Now, with three away games in a week coming up, starting with the FA Cup third round tie at Middlesbrough on Saturday, Mee is looking to transfer their positive home form to the road.

“We’ve picked up a few decent results recently. We need to start doing it away from home in the big games,” said the defender.

“We’ve done it before so I don’t see why we can’t do it again. I’m sure it will turn around for us away from home.”

Meanwhile, George Boyd returned to the bench on Saturday after missing the Bristol City game with a back problem And Burnley boss Sean Dyche is hopeful of having Dean Marney available for selection again after missing the last two games with a calf problem.

“He’s got a niggle on his calf, it’s not serious but he wasn’t close,” said Dyche.

“It’s getting a bit easier so we’ll see how the next few days go building into the weekend and try and get him some more football.”