BOLTON, England (AFP) - Fulham's search for a first win under Roy Hodgson goes on but the west London club will have taken heart from a resilient defensive display in this goalless draw at Bolton.

Fulham's new signings Brede Hangeland and Leon Andreasen both caught the eye on their debuts and suggested they could help make the west London harder to beat than they have been for most of this season so far.

Neither side however created much in the way of goalscoring opportunities and, on this evidence, Bolton could come to bitterly regret their decision to allow Nicolas Anelka to leave for Chelsea earlier this month.

Clear scoring chances were thin on the ground with Hangeland doing a good job of shackling Bolton's lone striker Kevin Davies while displaying a sure touch with his distribution.

The Norway centre-half was at the origin of Fulham's first half-chance, feeding Danny Murphy in midfield before the former Liverpool midfield sent Clint Dempsey beyond the back four. Dempsey had only Jussi Jaaskelainen to beat but steered his shot wide of the goalkeeper's right-hand post from just inside the area.

Bolton's best effort before the break came in the form of a volley from Icelandic defender Gretar Steinsson that only just cleared the crossbar, although Danny Guthrie screwed a better chance wide from an acute angle.

Bolton introduced Tamir Cohen for Andy O'Brien at the break and the switch appeared to galvanise the hosts.

Just before the hour mark, Steinsson got to the byline and whipped in a cross that Kevin Nolan helped on to Matt Taylor at the back post.

Taylor, making his home debut, was unable to get a clean contact and Fulham breathed a huge sigh of relief as the chance went begging.

Bolton dominated territorially from then on but they never really threatened to open up their opponents and they will be bitterly frustrated at their failure to take a chance to put some more daylight between them and the relegation zone.