French defender Chimbonda made a last-ditch slide to deny Morten Gamst Pedersen on the stroke of half-time in an otherwise drab FA Cup fourth-round clash at the Stadium of Light.

But Allardyce was more concerned by earlier misses from Chris Samba, who powered a free header wide in only the second minute of the game, and returning striker Roque Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz, still heavily linked with a move to Manchester City, was making his first start for six weeks after coming back from a calf complaint but saw Marton Fulop save well when he was put clear in the 26th minute.

The relegation-battling sides must now reconvene for a reply at Ewood Park on February 4, but Allardyce believes Rovers should already be in the draw for the next round.

"The replay is a game which both of us could probably do without," he said.

"We didn't lose but we wanted to get a result and get into the next round. It was a disappointment from my point of view in the sense that we failed to convert three glorious chances in the first half.

"Pascal Chimbonda's save on the line was pretty miraculous from Morten's shot so I can't blame him for that but Chris Samba's header at the near post and Roque's one-on-one with their 'keeper are the sort of chances we expect to convert to get us in the lead.

"The way we are defending at the moment I think one goal would have got us the win today but we couldn't get that goal and I think the second half became a pretty scrappy affair for both sides.

"Neither side really created a clear-cut chance after that but there were half-chances and we didn't quite get the right finish or the right final ball."

While Allardyce called upon Manchester City target Santa Cruz and Benni McCarthy in what was close to a full-strength side, Black Cats boss Ricky Sbragia opted to leave 13-goal strike pairing Djibril Cisse and Kenwyne Jones out of his starting XI.

They were replaced by David Healy, who had the ball in the net before being ruled offside, and Michael Chopra as Sbragia ran the rule over some of his fringe players.

The hosts immediately looked a more threatening prospect in attack when Jones was brought on for the last 25 minutes - indeed Steed Malbranque might have won it had he not blazed over following a Jones cut-back - but Sbragia was content with his selection.

"We sent out a team to try and win, simple as that," said the Scot.

"I thought the players who came in did well and the changes we made, I was pleased with.

"I just think we have to know what kind of squad we've got and find out if it's strong enough. I thought we did reasonably well in the second half, moved the ball around nicely. Maybe we lacked a cutting edge up front but it gives the squad players some football.

"We now have four games in 10 or 12 days and this helps get them all up to match fitness.

"I thought Blackburn maybe had the best chances and if they had scored perhaps it would have changed the game. But it's a draw and we're still in the hat. We have to deal with that."