Blackburn Rovers 0 Bolton Wanderers 0: Lancashire derby ends in stalemate

Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers are both still waiting for their first wins of the Championship season after a 0-0 draw at Ewood Park on Friday.

A Lancashire derby packed with passion and tension failed to produce a definitive moment of quality at either end, although Emile Heskey came agonisingly close to winning the game for Bolton in the closing minutes.

The normally reliable Jordan Rhodes was presented with first-half chances for Blackburn as Craig Conway and Ben Marshall were given time to cross, but the striker proved uncharacteristically wasteful with two headers.

Resolute defending was the order of the day for both sides, with Gary Madine fluffing Bolton’s best opening in the first 45 minutes.

As the game wore on, chances started to emerge with greater regularity and Blackburn’s Tommy Spurr saw a header cleared off the line before substitute Bengali-Fode Koita blazed the rebound over when it looked easier to score.

Koita then had a goal disallowed for offside before Heskey was denied a late winner at the other end by Shane Duffy’s superb goal-line clearance.

Bolton’s Dorian Dervite was sent off in stoppage time for a second bookable offence.