Rovers give Allardyce a boost with win over Bolton

Blackburn Rovers gave their absent manager Sam Allardyce something to cheer with a 2-0 win away to his former club Bolton Wanderers in the English Premier League on Sunday.

David Dunn gave Rovers a 32nd minute lead at the Reebok Stadium before a bizarre own-goal from Sam Ricketts 17 minutes from time sealed a win for the visitors that ended a run of 10 straight away defeats in the league.

Defeat left Bolton firmly rooted in the relegation zone.

Allardyce is due to have an operation on his heart that will force him to miss three of Rovers’ league fixtures, a run that started against Bolton.

Allardyce will also miss the mid-week fixture at Fulham and Stoke’s visit to Ewood Park next weekend as this weekend he was due to have an angioplasty, a procedure which will widen one of his coronary arteries.

The 55-year-old had complained of chest pain recently and investigations revealed a narrowing of one of his coronary arteries, which will be corrected by the insertion of a device known as a stent next week.