Liverpool have been unable to break down Blackburn Rovers in a goalless first half to their FA Cup quarter-final replay at Ewood Park.

The visitors made a positive start to the contest, with Raheem Sterling coming close to finding a way through with his well-struck attempt, just moments after Joe Allen had seen his volley end wide of the target.

Blackburn began to see more of the ball as the first half wore on, and they could very well have taken the lead when some sloppy play by Mamadou Sakho allowed Craig Conway to steal possession, although the Reds defender recovered in time to produce a solid block.

Daniel Sturridge, back in the Liverpool starting lineup this evening following his recent absence, then managed to work a few yards of space on the edge of the area to get a shot away, which deflected narrowly over the bar.

Sakho was clearly struggling with injury in the opening quarter of the game, which almost proved costly when Jordan Rhodes headed wide from a cross with the visitors temporarily down to 10 men, shortly before the Frenchman was withdrawn.

Liverpool would have taken a lead into the interval if not for a string of saves from Simon Eastwood, who denied both Glenn Johnson and Sturridge with two admittedly tame stops, before keeping out Philippe Coutinho's attempt after the Brazilian found the ball at his feet inside the area.

Coutinho was involved again a few minutes later, picking out Johnson before seeing the ball returned to him just outside the opposition box, but he failed to make the desired contact with his shot.