English FA Premiership Bolton Wanderers 0 Blackburn Rovers 0: Bolton Wanderers enter European competition for the first time in their history this week though, if the Bulgarians Lokomotiv Plovdiv had sent spies to Greater Manchester to witness this local derby, they might have had to rouse themselves from their slumbers to file a report.

A dreary mess of a game, enlivened only occasionally by simmering enmity between the two sides, dribbled to a tedious and thoroughly uninspiring conclusion. Blackburn's unbeaten record in this arena has been extended to six matches, Bolton's charge back up the table briefly checked, but there was little by which to remember the occasion.

These sides relish unsettling their opponents with a mixture of the strong arm in midfield and rapid spring on the break.

Predictably enough, they merely cancelled each other to leave increasingly uninterested supporters scuttling out before the end intent upon discovering whether play had begun again at The Oval. Watching the covers on an empty square suddenly seemed appealing.

If there are concerns within football that cricket's new-found popularity might eventually erode their audience, then little on offer here allayed those fears. Two of the Premiership's more awkward sides tore into each other and, in the fractious mishmash, entertainment was not included. The locals reacted as if they expected little else.

Long balls were battered from goalkeeper to goalkeeper, possession occasionally popping up in the snarling muddle in midfield though, just as a game threatened to break out, the rhythm was invariably disrupted by Graham Poll's whistle.

The referee had little choice. This fixture has a fiery reputation, with three Blackburn players having been dismissed in recent times, and this clash generated the anticipated rash of petty fouls.

El Hadji Diouf had begun it all, clashing early on with Robbie Savage and Morten Gamst Pedersen, the latter's ability on the ball lost amid the muddle.

A raised boot from Stelios Giannakopoulos, Savage crumpling to the turf, and Poll politely requesting Sam Allardyce retreat to his dug-out after Bolton's manager had reacted furiously to the afternoon's first booking, awarded against Ivan Campo.

Nat Lofthouse, paraded on the pitch before kick-off to celebrate his recent 80th birthday, might have been perplexed by it all, though the big screens had rerun footage of his second goal in the 1958 FA Cup final which had rather set the tone.

Lofthouse had bundled the Manchester United goalkeeper Harry Gregg and the ball into the net to complete the 2-0 win that day; this match cried out for some kind of goal controversy.

Bolton created what threat there was, their busy industry in the centre occasionally sucking opposing full-backs into the middle to allow space into which Henrik Pedersen in particular charged.

His low cross might have brought early reward for Diouf had Ryan Nelsen not dived in to divert the Senegalese player's shot behind.

But that was as good as Bolton mustered until, with half-time approaching, Gary Speed's vicious free-kick into the area saw Campo, lost by the grounded Aaron Mokoena, leap to head wastefully over.

The contest could hardly afford such profligacy to drain its quality further, but Blackburn breathed again.

Unbeaten here since 1998, they were aware their success in this game last season helped start the revival under Mark Hughes which hauled them from the foot of the table.

* Guardian Service