Blackburn ended a run of 10 successive defeats on the road in the Barclays Premier League with a 2-0 victory at Bolton which gave a welcome boost to the absent Sam Allardyce in the process.

Allardyce is scheduled to have surgery on a heart condition and missed the derby against the club he played for and managed.

His team did him proud, though, with influential midfielder David Dunn capping a superb performance by making the breakthrough. Bolton's misery was then complete when full-back Sam Ricketts scored a bizarre second-half own goal.

Dunn, who almost joined Wanderers, stated his intentions as early as the fourth minute, clipping a shot wide of the post following a misplaced clearance from Ricketts.

The midfielder again came close to making the breakthrough when he hooked the ball over Jussi Jaaskelainen but Gary Cahill read the situation well to make the clearance.

Bolton almost took the lead in the 31st minute when Matt Taylor's free-kick took a deflection off Ryan Nelsen and came back off the bar.

But Blackburn hit back a minute later with a flowing move that rocked the home side.

Franco Di Santo started it and released Jason Roberts who in turn found Dunn, and he steadied himself before nestling the ball into the corner for his sixth goal of the season.

Both sides had chances to add to the scoreline before Rovers extended their lead in the 73rd minute following an embarrassing mix-up between Ricketts and Jaaskelainen.

The defender headed back a cross from Brett Emerton not realising his goalkeeper had already started walking out. The pair could only look on in disbelief as the ball nestled firmly in the net to give Blackburn a two-goal cushion and leave the hosts in the relegation zone.