Blackburn Rovers have dominated the opening 45 minutes of their Championship clash with Reading without managing to break the deadlock at Ewood Park.

Following a subdued first quarter of an hour, the hosts came close to breaking the deadlock when David Dunn cut in from the right and fired in a deflected effort that struck the post.

Tom Cairney then managed to latch on to the rebound, but his looping shot was well held by goalkeeper Alex McCarthy.

McCarthy was called into action again on 32 minutes, staying big to deny Cairney after the Rovers midfielder had jinked his way past two defenders.

Jordan Rhodes breached the offside trap moments later, but he was unable to produce a successful pass from the byline.