Peter White's match report

Graeme Souness had more pressing business to attend to elsewhere but the video will be a valuable companion to him as he weighs up some of the critical decisions he must make about his Jekyll and Hyde bunch of players in summer.

No doubt he has already been well informed about the manner in which this team is capable of underachieving.

Well, they did it again in a game that typified so many at this level.

The First Division is full of booby traps in the guise of teams like Grimsby, Port Vale, Swindon and Crewe.

They pretend to be penniless, humble second-raters who do not belong on the same pitch as such highly-expensive ex-Premiership talents as Rovers possess.

But then reality takes over.

More through their own failings than any major contribution from the underdogs -- key elements such as organisation, discipline and endeavour apart -- Rovers fail to take advantage of their superiority and finish frustrated. Even Souness's opposite number Alan Buckley could scarcely believe how his team had become the latest of the First Division's lowlier outfits to deny Rovers.

On paper it again looked to be no contest. Even on grass it seemed for most of the game as though Rovers could win it quite comfortably.

Yet, while they did at least defend impressively, they still lack any genuine conviction or cutting edge in attack -- resulting in another blank scoreline.

Considering there was nothing at stake, there was a significant Blackburn contingent at one end of a quaint ground which one visitor rather unkindly described as "the land that time forgot".

If only we could all forget games such as these.

This was Rovers' seventh goalless draw of the season and five of them have come against what can only be termed as the division's strugglers.

All could have been turned into victories and what a difference that would have made to a season that is finishing on a note of anti-climax.

One thing is certain. Come next season, Rovers must be ready to win far more than they draw or lose of this type of contest if they are to have any chance of launching a genuine promotion challenge.

Parkes knew the score in that respect and, by the time he has received the full report from his lieutenants, Souness will undoubtedly be well aware too.

The manager made only one change to the starting line-up, naming Nathan Blake instead of teenager Ben Burgess and signalled his intentions of playing a similar pattern to the previous game with three men who normally fill central midfield roles and Damien Duff as the 'free' winger.

I have seen it work for them before but there is still work to do before we are sure one of the central midfielders -- David Dunn in this case -- can play wider to the right and maintain the balance.

Without ever threatening to tear Grimsby to pieces, Rovers took command from the start and rarely relinquished that edge.

There were several direct efforts on goal in the opening half, though only an occasional one to worry a very competent keeper.

Danny Coyne's most important moment came when he dashed off his line to dive at Blake's feet after a poor first touch from the striker.

And his most anxious one came eight minutes before the interval when a lovely backheel from Dunn put in Ashley Ward, cutting in from the right.

The angle was tight but Ward got in a decent drive that Coyne saved well. Grimsby did not manage a single on-target effort throughout the whole half. In fact, their only goal attempts were a couple of quickfire shots from Lee Ashcroft, both well off target, and that was a measure of how comfortable Rovers were at the back.

Even when they put themselves in trouble, they proved quite capable of getting themeslves out of it again.

Coyne also made a fine start to the second half, with excellent saves from Ward and Duff, who were both set up by Matt Jansen.

Then came Grimsby's one real chance of the match and it fell for ex-Rover Steve Livingstone. He did little wrong, twisting and turning outside the penalty area before shooting low and hard to Alan Kelly's left.

But the keeper was equal to it.

The rest of the half followed a similar pattern to the first and, even though Rovers switched to using three defenders instead of four after Jason McAteer's departure, it made little difference.

A Dunn shot almost squirmed over the line to embarrass Coyne, then the midfielder put a close-range effort on top of the net.

After a brief flurry from Alan Pouton, who fired way off target from just outside the penalty area, Rovers almost snatched it in stoppage time.

Twice Jansen got in good shots and twice he was thwarted by the excellent Coyne.

But, somehow, it just wasn't unexpected. Too many of us, you see, have witnessed it all before.