Rovers missed the chance to move back into the play-off spots as they were held to a goalless draw at home to Wigan Athletic.

Ben Brereton had Rovers’ best chance of the night after just four minutes, but they failed to find a through the team with the division’s worst defensive record.

Not that Rovers had it all their own way in a game that Wigan were very much in and had chances of their own, while Martin Kelly had a goal ruled out for a foul.

With tough away games to come at Watford and West Bromwich Albion to follow, this wasn’t the momentum builder that Rovers would have been hoping for.

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Given Rovers’ failure to add to their squad on deadline day, not finding a way through against the division’s bottom side will have done little to ease the concerns about a lack of firepower in attack.

Chances were at a premium against a Wigan Athletic side who have shipped the most goals in the division.

Ben Brereton remains without a goal since the World Cup break, and passed up the best opportunity of the game just four minutes in.

His struggles, added to the lack of additions, leave head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson with plenty to ponder in the second half of the season.

Only Preston North End outside of the bottom four have scored fewer than Rovers’ 31 goals in 29 games. 

Sorba Thomas was handed his Rovers debut in a team that showed only two changes from the FA Cup replay at Birmingham City.

Ben Brereton came into the game without a goal in his last 11 appearances. His latest chance to end that wait came after just four minutes.

Bradley Dack was the provider as his first-time volley freed Brereton but when cutting in from the left, he put his shot too close to Ben Amos who kept it out.

That wasn’t the catalyst for an incisive attacking display however in a game increasingly lacking in quality as the game wore on.

Whether a tactic due to Aynsley Pears making his first league start in 14 months, or simply in a bid to make something happen, the visitors weren’t afraid to take aim from distance.

Danel Sinani, one of three Wigan debutants, tried his luck from 25 yards on his weaker right foot, with Pears equal to it as he got his body behind the effort with 15 minutes on the watch.

Lewis Travis was back in the Rovers side for his first league start since December 10 and looked to make the most of it.

Operating in a more advanced role, he linked up with Thomas to square for Joe Rankin-Costello who dragged his shot wide of the target.

That came from Rovers winning the ball high up the pitch, something they didn’t do enough of, as Wigan found it too easy to work their way up the pitch.

Callum Lang thumped a 25-yarder over the top and seven minutes before the break he did manage to get a shot on target, but Pears was equal to it.

The visitors were clearly growing in confidence and pushed Rovers back, with Thomas and Brereton forced to retreat deep into their own halves as a result.

Rovers on the other hand were struggling to make the ball stick in attack, with Jack Vale failing to get involved on what was his third consecutive league start.

He did however create a chance late in the half as he teed up Thomas whose side-footed effort was turned behind by a less than convincing Amos save.

There were no changes for the start of the second half, one Rovers looked to start on the front foot.

Yet they almost fell behind just five minutes after the restart, Omar Remik breaking through two tackles before firing just wide of Pears’ left-hand post from the edge of the box.

Both sides were starting to commit a few more bodies forward sensing their opportunity in a game that was very much there for the taking.

As Thomas began to become more involved, Sam Gallagher was sent on in place of Vale, while Tyler Morton replaced John Buckley as part of a double change just after the hour.

Excellent defending from Martin Kelly stopped a Thomas cross reaching Dack, while a similarly smart interception denied Gallagher the chance of a free header from six yards.

Kelly then thought he’d opened the scoring at the other end, turning in at the post in the 65th minute , but his celebrations were cut short by the referee who spotted a foul on Pears as the corner came in from the right.

Rovers weren’t looking assured at the back, with Lang in particular growing into the game and giving Hayden Carter a tough time, as the defender was shown a yellow card for pulling him back with 20 minutes to go.

A second double change of the night saw Tomasson sends on Sam Szmodics and Ryan Hedges, with Thomas and Dack the two players to be replaced, changes that weren’t popular among the Rovers supporters.

There looked desperation to Rovers’ play though, Pickering taking aim from 35 yards summing that up. When his shot flew into the Blackburn End, it was greeted by boos, and many people opting to leave with seven minutes remaining.

Tempers flared in the closing minute, James McClean booked for a wide challenge on Rankin-Costello who was carded for his reaction that saw a melee infront of the Riverside Stand.

Seven added minutes gave rise to the potential of a late winner, though Morton wasted a free kick when opting to shoot despite bodies in the box, as Amos watched it wide of his near post.

Rovers: Pears, Rankin-Costello, Carter, S Wharton, Pickering, Travis, Buckley (Morton, 66), Thomas (Hedges, 80), Dack (Szmodics, 80), Brereton, Vale (Gallagher, 66)

Subs: Hilton, Phillips, Dolan

Wigan: Amos, Kelly, Whatmough (Caulker, 75), Rekik (Pearce, 55), Darikwa, Tiehi, Power, McClean, Lang, Keane (Wyke, 75), Sinani (Aasgaard, 66)

Subs: Jones, Nyambe, Naylor