Blackburn boosted their chances of avoiding relegation as Martin Olsson's goal gave them a deserved victory over Bolton at Ewood Park.

The Swedish full-back was a constant threat down the left and scored in the 20th minute with a low 20-yard drive.

Olsson also had a shot headed off the line by Paul Robinson, while Bolton's Rodrigo Moreno fired against a post.

Rovers remained marginally the better side after the break but had to survive some nervous moments before the end.

The points were the first earned by Steve Kean's men in six home matches, leaving them three points and three places above third-from-bottom Wigan.

Blackburn's players huddled before kick-off in a gesture of solidarity and defiance at their predicament at the lower end of the Premier League table.

Keeping the faith was the order of the day and Rovers boss Kean remained loyal to the strike pairing of Benjani and Jason Roberts, who have just six goals between them this season, for the second game running.

The move almost paid off when Roberts' early cross was headed down at the far post by Brett Emerton but Benjani was unable to make any meaningful contact from a scramble in front of goal.

In their current predicament, Blackburn will take goals from any source and it was full-back Olsson, given license to attack down the left by his manager and further encouraged to do so by lax Bolton defending, who scored once and should have had more.

He had the game's first meaningful effort when he flashed a shot wide from long range and shortly after saw an angled drive headed off the line by Wanderers defender Paul Robinson, with keeper Adam Bogdan beaten.

The away side failed to heed the warning and were punished in the 20th minute when they firstly gave away possession and then, after the ball had been fed to Olsson, failed to close him down before he unleashed a well-struck shot that nestled into the bottom corner of the net.

Olsson had another chance later in the half when teed up by Michel Salgado's cross, but this time Bogdan was able to claw the Swede's 12-yard shot past the post.

There was an air of resignation about Bolton, whose lacklustre display was at odds with their manager's assertion that they still have plenty to play for this season.

And Owen Coyle will need to lift his team if what has been a good season overall is not defined by an FA Cup semi-final hammering by Stoke and a slump that followed it.

Their only worthwhile efforts of the first half came from midfielder Moreno, who flashed a shot wide in the third minute and then hit a post from 10 yards out after Salgado's miscued headed clearance had fallen to him.

A quick piece of thinking by Emerton almost gave Blackburn the perfect start to the second half but while his free-kick from the left wing caught Bogdan out, it flew narrowly over the bar.

Blackburn had enough chances to make the last quarter of the match more comfortable for themselves, but they spurned a number of good opportunities to maintain the frgility of their lead.

Steven Nzonzi twice put headers wide when he should have done better, while substitute Mame Diouf miscued a shot from the edge of the area after Bolton's Gary Cahill had stabbed Morten Gamst Pedersen's cross into his path.

Wanderers substitute Martin Petrov then had the chance to claim a point for his side, but he struck his shot from an angle into the side-netting and they were unable to fashion another chance to prevent a 10th defeat in 11 away matches.

Date of match:
Saturday, 30 April 2011

Results:
{H} Blackburn (1): Olsson 20
{A} Bolton (0): -