Bournemouth 0-0 Blackburn Rovers

Bournemouth made it five Championship games without a win as they played out a scrappy goalless draw against a resilient Blackburn Rovers.

Marc Pugh had the chance to give the Cherries an early lead but his effort was tipped over by Jason Steele.

Rovers' Rudy Gestede played Chris Taylor in on goal soon after but the midfielder dragged his shot just wide.

Yann Kermorgant could have sealed three points for the hosts late on but he rattled the bar with a headed effort.

The match kicked-off half an hour later than scheduled following an accident on the A338 which saw Bournemouth's Artur Boruc and Tommy Elphick held up in traffic.

Despite the Cherries' dominance, they could not find the target, squandering the chance to close the gap on top two Derby and Middlesbrough, who both lost.

The hosts struggled to assert themselves in a scrappy first half but Bournemouth midfielder Ryan Fraser was unlucky not to hit the target from close range.

Callum Wilson came close to putting Bournemouth ahead just before the break but Matthew Kilgallon defended well to keep the scores level.

Some poor defending from the visitors allowed Pugh to cross to the onrushing Wilson who could not connect.

Wilson and Pugh linked up again as Bournemouth dominated the opening of the second period but the latter fired weakly at Steele.

Kermorgant was unfortunate not to give the hosts the lead in the closing stages but Steele superbly saved his pinpoint header.

Minutes later, Kermorgant latched onto Simon Francis' cross but his powerful header hit the crossbar.

Bournemouth's last win came against Wigan on 7 February, whilst Blackburn extended their winless run on the road to 10 matches.

Bournemouth assistant Jason Tindall:

"It was very frustrating. It is another frustrating game where we have dominated possession but have not taken the opportunities that we have created.

"We could have quite easily won all of the games but, from our point of view, our performances have still been good. You have to stay positive and we find ourselves in a fantastic position.

"If we can continue to create those opportunities then we will get our rewards. The positive is that we have kept a clean sheet and it has been a while since we had done that."

Blackburn manager Gary Bowyer:

"We are the first team to come here this season to get a clean sheet and stop them from scoring. I thought tactically we were spot on and our organisation was excellent.

"We have some real firepower in our team but unfortunately we have not got the goal that could have won the game.

"We could have won the game and we had some chances at the end."