Megson had stuck with the starting eleven which had held Newcastle United to a draw ten days ago meaning Gretar Steinsson and Matthew Taylor where handed their home debuts.

There was also a surprise place amongst the Wanderers substitutes for Heidar Helguson who was involved with the team for the first time since early September.

Bolton had been the better side and generally passed the ball around well throughout the evening but the lack of a cutting edge in front of goal left the home support frustrated.

New boy Taylor had Bolton's first chance from the edge of the area on two minutes but the former Portsmouth player could not keep his free kick low enough to test visiting keeper Antti Niemi.

A few minutes later Fulham where on the attack when lone front man Clint Dempsey latched onto a decisive through ball from midfielder Danny Murphy only to fire wide at Jussi Jaaskelainen's near post.

Fulham debutant Leon Andreasen tried his luck from distance and was a whisker away from getting his first goal for the Cottagers only for the ball to bounce off the top of the net.

One time Wigan Athletic favourite Jimmy Bullard was then foiled by Jaaskelainen who got down well at his right hand post to divert a rasping shot from sneaking into the corner.

Bolton have a new weapon in the shape of Taylor's delivery from set pieces and on 21 minutes the £4 million man delivered in a delightful ball which caused confusion in the penalty area only for another recent aquisition Steinsson to hook the ball over.

Taylor then squared the ball over to Danny Guthrie via a Brent Hangeland miskick but the on-loan midfielder screwed his shot well wide of the target without forcing Niemi into a save.

Just before the half hour mark Niemi was tested when Kevin Davies and Joey O'Brien played a neat one two but the Finnish custodian did well with a low save to deny the young Irish midfielder the chance of opening his Bolton account.

Ten minutes before the break skipper Kevin Nolan pressed and probed the Fulham back line before delivering a good cross which team mate Davies could only head straight at Niemi.

The Wanderers made a change at half time when Joey O'Brien was replaced by Tamir Cohen and the Israeli immediately slotted into to the heart of the midfield alongside Gavin McCann and Nolan.

Bolton played the ball around well in the early stages of the second half but there was no end product for their efforts and that is something that the manager will be keen to address before the transfer window closes later this week.

At times it was ten behind the ball, with the midfield breaking out and trying to hit Fulham on the counter attack and after a while the visitors where more than happy to sit back and soak up what was thrown at them.

A first real chance of note in the second period came on the hour mark when a good run and low cross from Steinsson was dummied by Nolan and missed by the outstretched Taylor at the far post.

Nolan and Guthrie had half chances to test Niemi without any real conviction and in the case of the latter it was one of his last acts as he was soon replaced by Andranik Teimourian in a move which did not go down too well with some sections of the crowd.

With just under twenty minutes to go the hosts had their best chance of the evening coming from an unlikely source in the shape of centre half Lubomir Michalik.

The Slovakian had performed competantly all night alongside Andy O'Brien in defence but it was his attacking instincts which could have won the Wanderers the game on 71 minutes.

Niemi came out to punch another Taylor free kick and the ball landed in the path of the centre half only for his his effort to bounce agonisingly wide of the post.

With seven minutes left the home side where given something to cheer about when ex-Fulham man Heidar Helguson made his first Bolton appearance of the year after almost six months out of action.

The introduction of the Icelander helped to releive the workload of solitary striker Kevin Davies but between them they could not find a goal in the dying stages.

Bolton must now travel to Reading this coming Saturday and this will be followed by a visit of Portsmouth to the Reebok Stadium on the following weekend.

BOLTON WANDERERS: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Gretar Steinsson, Andy O'Brien, Lubomir Michalik, Ricardo Gardner, Joey O'Brien (Tamir Cohen), Gavin McCann, Kevin Nolan, Danny Guthrie (Andranik Teimourian), Kevin Davies, Matthew Taylor (Heidar Helguson)

SUBS NOT USED: Jlloyd Samuel, Ali Al-Habsi (GK)

FULHAM: Antti Niemi, Chris Baird, Aaron Hughes, Brede Hangeland, Paul Konchesky, Moritz Volz (Phillipe Christanval), Danny Murphy, Leon Andreasen (Carlos Bocanegra), Simon Davies, Jimmy Bullard (Hameur Bouazza), Clint Dempsey

SUBS NOT USED: David Healy, Tony Warner (GK)

ATTENDANCE:

17,732

REFEREE:

Mark Clattenburg

BOOKED:

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