Steve Bruce, fresh from his early-hours scuffle outside his house, decided to return to the sometimes used 4-5-1 formation. At the back, Kenny Cunningham returned ahead of Martin Taylor, whilst Jamie Clapham came back from injury to replace Julian Gray. In midfield Stephen Clemence kept his place after the Lincoln game alongisde Robbie Savage, with Izzet pushed on a little behind Emile Heskey up front. Damien Johnson returned from suspension on the right, and Jesper Gronkjaer was again used on the left.
Blues didn't start too badly, but the half just progressively got worse and worse for them. Their formation almost matched Bolton's at times, as Johnson and Gronkjaer pushed forwards to try and make a forward three with Heskey, with Izzet dropping a little deeper. Again though, there was no real football whatsoever being played by Blues - just long balls forward aimed at Heskey's head.
Bolton had a couple of opportunities before they took the lead through Ivan Campo, who flashed one shot wide and had a free-kick saved by Maik Taylor. After 16 minutes though the home side did get their breakthrough. Kevin Davies - always a threat in the air - flicked on a free-kick that Blues struggled to deal with, and Radhi Jaidi controlled the ball on his chest and then hit a good half volley in at the near post for his second Premiership goal in a week.
This didn't serve as a wake-up call to Blues, who continued to be under pressure from the home side who were without talisman JayJay Okocha. Kevin Nolan and Ricardo Gardner both had shots blocked and wide respectively, as Blues conceded possession and needless free-kicks for most of the half.
Surprisingly for Blues there was no change of personnel at half-time, with the likes of Julian Gray, Dwight Yorke, Clinton Morrison and David Dunn all still on the bench. However, there was definitely a change in attitude. Within a minute Izzet had had a good left foot drive turned over the bar by Jussi Jaaskelainen after good work by Heskey. Moments later Heskey fired just over from the resulting corner from a tight angle, and Blues finally looked up for it.
They got their equaliser just four minutes into the second half, following good work by Gronkjaer. Bolton made a mess of clearing the ball, and Gronkjaer did well to bring the high, looping ball down in the area. I suspect the Danish winger was trying to bring the ball down for himself, but as he was blocked, Izzet came storming into the box and hit a powerful drive in off the underside of the bar to make it 1-1.
Blues were now the team on top, in stark contrast to the first half. Gronkjaer was posing problems for the Bolton defence and Clemence was putting in an excellent battling display in the middle of the park. Henrik Pedersen did have a goal disallowed for Bolton for offside, but this was a rare foray forward for the home side in the second half.
Gronkjaer cut inside and fired a shot over the bar, whilst Heskey and Izzet were causing problems. Bruce introduced Dunn for Gronkjaer to perhaps inject a little more craft into attacks, but it seemed by now that the game was heading for a draw.
However, literally in the final seconds of injury time, Gardner made a complete hash of a clearance, and Heskey glanced a header goalwards that bounced agonisingly inches wide. There may even have been questions as to why substitute Gray didn't follow it in to make sure at the far post, but it wasn't to be.
For Blues, it truly was a mixed performance. If you'd been offered a draw at half time, you'd have snapped hands off to get it. However, at the end there was perhaps a little disappointment that a mediocre Bolton side couldn't be finished off. They may have been flying high in the league, but they're still not that good, and surely with the players that are in the Blues squad now, the side should be looking to win at these places and not pick up draws. Either way, it was about a fair result, and Blues can concentrate on Newcastle United next week now.
Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Hunt, N'Gotty, Jaidi, Gardner, Campo, Nolan, Speed, Davies (Ferdinand 79), Diouf (Giannakopoulos 65), Pedersen.
Subs Not Used: Poole, Cesar, Hierro.
Booked: N'Gotty, Jaidi.
Blues: Maik Taylor, Melchiot, Cunningham, Upson, Clapham, Gronkjaer (Dunn 77), Savage, Clemence, Johnson, Izzet (Gray 88), Heskey.
Subs Not Used: Vaesen, Yorke, Morrison.
Booked: Savage.
Att: 23,692