Hodgson's men hit by travel sickness once again

Manager Hodgson's side, with the worst away record in the league and five points adrift of safety, and Bolton — six points ahead of them but by no means out of the relegation woods — were both crying out for a scorer at the Reebok.

It was easy to see why Fulham have not recorded a win since November — and any Atletico Madrid spies from Bolton's UEFA Cup rivals next month will not have gone home with frowns.

Hodgson's hopes of steering second-bottom strugglers Fulham to safety were dealt another blow before kick-off.

FIFA ruled that Daniel Cousin, the striker Fulham had lined up from Rangers, would not be able to complete his move without contravening their rules. Cousin, 30, had 20 minutes as a substitute for Lens before his move to Ibrox, and a player cannot appear for three clubs in the same season.

Hodgson was able to field two 'approved' recruits — Norway defender Brede Hangeland, from FC Copenhagen, and Denmark midfielder Leon Andreasen, from Werder Bremen.

But the sight that gave Fulham fans the biggest lift was former Wigan dynamo Jimmy Bullard, making his first start since a terrible knee injury in September 2006. Fulham were trying to shake off their terrible away record — Hodgson's team had not won outside Craven Cottage since turning over Newcastle 28 games ago.

But Bolton also needed a victory, having won only one League match in five weeks, and that by a single Stelios goal over doomed Derby.

The Greek winger was not even on Gary Megson's bench, with Kevin Davies entrusted with trying to fill the gap left by Nicolas Anelka's £15m move to Chelsea.

Clint Dempsey had the chance to give Fulham the lead but he wastefully fired his shot into Jussi Jaaskelainen's sidenetting.

Bullard was sited just behind Dempsey, but it was Andreasen who almost caught out the keeper with a long-range effort that clipped Joey O'Brien on its way over the bar.

Yet Fulham should have fallen behind after 20 minutes when Anti Niemi's goal was under real pressure. Skipper Kevin Nolan almost sneaked in for a crafty goal from Ricardo Gardner's precise free kick, then Gretar Steinsson's acrobatic effort just cleared the angle.

Danny Guthrie should have done better than drag his shot wide a minute later when Matty Taylor, making his home debut after signing from Portsmouth, delivered a tempting cross.

Fulham's was the kind of defending that had seen them harvest 12 points from a possible 84 on their travels since beating Newcastle 16 months ago, a record that gnawed at former bosses Chris Coleman and Lawrie Sanchez.

But for all Davies' hard work, Bolton were struggling to find the killer touch in front of goal, a glaring need that has sent manager Megson scouring Europe. He will privately hope Senegal's African Nations challenge fizzles out on Wednesday against South Africa, so that at least striker El Hadji Diouf returns early from Ghana.