*Wasteful Dublin fails to cash in on Glasgow gloom*

Glasgow provided a depressing Uefa Cup result for Blackburn in the midweek Battle of Britain, and Dublin should have done the same for their Premiership ambitions yesterday.

Dion Dublin, the Aston Villa striker, was guilty of a miss which was extraordinary even by the recent abysmal standards set by Graham Taylor’s team, who have found goals so elusive this season.

With 69 minutes gone, Dublin met Jlloyd Samuel’s cross six yards out but sliced his shot woefully wide, taking with it Villa’s chance of their first away win of the season.

“Dion is sat in the dressing room and just can’t believe it,” said Taylor.

A look at Villa’s scoring record shows only seven goals in 12 games and makes you wonder why Dublin was so shocked. This was the eighth time they had failed to find the target, and he and the other five strikers in their squad have managed only three goals between them.

Taylor said: “It’s almost become a psychological barrier. We had the best chance of the game but all our strikers don’t seem able to score. We’ve had some quite incredible misses.

“In all the time I’ve been a manager I cannot think of a similar run. It’s mystifying.”

The fault doesn’t lie entirely with the strikers, however. They were left to feed on scraps yesterday as Villa created only two other clear opportunities - when Juan Pablo Angel headed wide in the 30th minute and Ian Taylor’s close-range shot was blocked by the Blackburn keeper Brad Friedel.

With his attack so devoid of inspiration, it is vital for Taylor’s future at Villa Park that his defence remain as organised as they were here. The midlands club have conceded only 11 goals this season, although they lived dangerously at times as Blackburn pursued their third successive Premiership victory.

Dwight Yorke was the threat Villa highlighted before the start. It seemed preordained that Yorke, so impressive against Celtic, would score on his 31st birthday against his former club. Instead he couldn’t muster a single attempt on goal and was replaced by Egil Ostenstad after only 20 minutes of the second half. His partner Andy Cole was responsible for their best moments, prompted by Damien Duff, who was an increasingly influential figure as the game wore on.

Cole went closest to a Blackburn goal after only three minutes when his header was touched against the bar by the keeper Peter Enckelman. Garry Flitcroft also shot over from a good opportunity created by David Thompson. Otherwise it was a first half to forget.

After Friedel made his excellent save from Ian Taylor in the 47th minute Blackburn enjoyed their best spell. Enckelman saved Duff’s deflected shot with his trailing leg and there were openings for Flitcroft and Duff on either side of that escape for Villa.

Blackburn’s final chance vanished when Cole was sent clear by Tugay Kerimoglu’s 78th-minute pass and scooped the ball over the bar, leaving Graeme Souness to open another debate about tired footballers.

“We looked jaded and the very obvious reason is the hard game we had on Thursday. We didn’t get back until after 3am and there was the emotional factor of playing Celtic.

“We were a yard off the pace because of Thursday’s game and, without it, we would have caused them a lot more problems. Those who starred in Glasgow found it difficult to get back to that level.

“That’s the price of the ticket, though, and something we have to live with as long as we are in the Uefa Cup. Anyway, I’ve seen us lose games like this one, so I suppose I should be happy.”

Taylor was certainly happy enough. “It’s still a good point for us after the draw at Manchester United,” he said. “We’ve produced two good performances, but the points we’re getting are not appreciated because they don’t move us very far up the table.”