Blackburn Rovers kept alive their faint promotion hopes as Jordan Rhodes scored deep into stoppage time to help Gary Bowyer’s team to edge to victory over their Lancashire rivals.
Rhodes’ future has been the subject of speculation for most of the season, but the rumours gathered momentum this week, with Middlesbrough, Derby County and Norwich City all understood to be interested in signing the 25-year-old.
Middlesbrough’s proposal is thought to involve taking the striker on loan until the end of the season before completing a £9 million transfer if they seal promotion to the Barclays Premier League. Rhodes has four years left on his contract and is among the highest-paid players in the Sky Bet Championship.
Blackburn began the match 14 points off the play-off positions, while Bolton Wanderers were ten points clear of the relegation zone. With both teams having little to play for, long periods of the match lacked the intensity befitting of a derby between clubs separated by 12 miles.
It was telling that Luke Steele and Ben Amos, the two goalkeepers, were the best two players on the pitch. Steele, the Blackburn goalkeeper, beat away Adam Le Fondre’s free kick before Tom Cairney sent a drive wide from 25 yards as the sides traded tentative blows.
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Like most of his team-mates, Rhodes was toiling to make an impact but did win a free kick 25 yards from goal early in the second half, only for Ben Marshall to curl his effort narrowly wide.
Bolton were indebted to Amos for two fine saves in quick succession as Blackburn pressed for the opener. Amos, on loan from Manchester United, saved at the feet of Chris Brown after the striker had latched on to Cairney’s through-ball. Later he pushed wide another effort from distance from Cairney.
The goalkeepers continued to make their mark and Steele raced out to deny Craig Davies, a Bolton substitute, who was put through by Le Fondre’s header.
Rhodes had the opportunity to snatch the points for Blackburn with ten minutes remaining but appeared not to make good contact with Craig Conway’s cross and Amos was able to prevent the header from crossing the line.
Rhodes has established himself as a poacher and showed his instincts to stab in the winner from close range when Doneil Henry headed Cairney’s corner towards goal.
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Blackburn Rovers (4-4-2): J Steele — A Henley, D Henry, M Kilgallon, M Olsson (sub: T Spurr, 46) — B Marshall, C Evans (sub: L Williamson, 32), T Cairney, C Conway — J Rhodes, C Brown (sub: R Gestede, 70). Substitutes not used: S Eastwood, C Taylor, Y Songo’o, D Lenihan. Booked: Henry
Bolton Wanderers (4-4-2): B Amos — J Vela, M Mills, P McCarthy, T Ream — S Janko (sub: D Moxey, 68), G Coke, N Danns, L Feeney — E Heskey (sub: C Davies, 73), A Le Fondre. Substitutes not used: A Lonergan,
D Moxey, R Hall, L Trotter, E Gudjohnsen, T Walker. Booked: Danns, Heskey, Mills.
Referee: P Tierney.