Samba injured in Chelsea stalemate

Chelsea looked to have sealed all three points when Salomon Kalou converted a cross from Julian Belletti but Webb disallowed the goal for offside.

Chelsea had squandered a host of first half chances but Blackburn - who lost defender Christopher Samba late in the game with a serious head injury - could have stolen the points themselves if Petr Cech had not tipped Robbie Savage's late effort over the crossbar.

Didier Drogba's absence was underlined in the 22nd minute when Juliano Belletti's perfectly-flighted cross was headed over the bar by the unmarked Andriy Shevchenko - making his first start of the season in Jose Mourinho's side.

In the 27th minute Chelsea were prevented from taking the lead by a superb acrobatic save from Friedel, who tipped over Michael Essien's half-volley.

A sign of Mourinho's displeasure with his team's failure to break down Rovers saw him make a double substitution in the 54th minute - Florent Malouda replacing Shaun Wright-Phillips and Mikel John Obi taking over from Steve Sidwell.

The change almost brought instant results when Belletti's cross was turned in by Kalou but was controversially ruled out by referee Webb for offside.

The decision sparked uproar on the bench, with Mourinho and assistant Steve Clarke berating the fourth official Peter Walton and remonstrating with him to look at the touchline TV screen.

Savage took advantage of some sloppy Chelsea defending to force Cech into a fine one-handed save in the 76th minute, but moments later Kalou sent a shot inches wide at the opposite end.

Then, six minutes from time, a Shevchenko header was brilliantly saved by Friedel. However, the Ukrainian striker's boot met the head of Samba as he tried to control the rebound and the Rovers player was stretchered off with a serious injury.