Rumours that low-flying aircraft have been told to steer clear of Lancashire are unfounded, but Sam Allardyce will have his work cut out to bring Kevin Nolan back down to terra firma this morning.

Nolan, captain for his big day, returned to Merseyside yesterday to inflict Liverpool's latest bout of title-chasing jitters, plundering a point against the club where he spent six years as a schoolboy and preventing them from returning to the top of the Premiership.

Discarded from the Reds' youth academy at 13 and left to slip into Sunday league football, the teenager has taken another six years to make Liverpool rue that oversight. Revenge must have been sweet.

"Kevin has been in fantastic form throughout the Christmas period - that's his third goal in four games," said Allardyce, whose side have taken four points from Liverpool and won at Manchester United this season.

"It was a dream come true for him coming back here. I only told him he was captain in the dressing room before the game, knowing there'd be some ribbing from the lads, but he's getting better and better with every game."

Nolan left it late to make his mark. With the visitors trailing to Steven Gerrard's opener, Gareth Farrelly's throw-in to the near post forced Jerzy Dudek to punch clear under challenge from Djibril Diawara.

The ball fell to Henrik Pedersen, whose low cross-cum-shot was thumped emphatically home by the unmarked captain.

The glee of the visiting supporters behind the goal might have been complete had Dudek not leapt to tip Michael Ricketts' attempt over the bar in the dying seconds.

Parity was the least Bolton deserved. Injury had decimated their squad, forcing Allardyce to adopt an unfamiliar formation which relied heavily upon the rugged Colin Hendry marshalling like-minded defenders from the centre of a back three.

An awkward fall and jarred knee curtailed the Scot's outstanding display, though Paul Warhurst - Mr Adaptable throughout his 14-year career - filled in superbly thereafter.

For all their patient possession, Liverpool continually ran aground on Bolton's whole-hearted rearguard.

Nicky Southall blocked smartly from Patrik Berger early on and, on the few occasions the home side found a penetrative pass, up popped Jussi Jaaskelainen to thwart them at the last.

The Finn somehow prodded away Michael Owen's first-half flick after the striker had burst on to Vladimir Smicer's header. His save from the England forward midway through the second period, after Owen had been slipped clear by Berger's pass, proved pivotal.

In between, Bolton had rallied only to fall behind five minutes after half-time. Per Frandsen's curled attempt from 35 yards had Dudek scurrying back to tip over the bar and, from the corner, the Pole dived to catch Ricketts' header.

That left Wanderers in good heart at the interval, but then Sami Hyypia fed Owen down the left flank and the striker's cross flicked off Frandsen. Gerrard gathered possession and, choosing to charge rather than pass, sprinted into the area beyond panicked defenders before lifting an angled shot over the sprawled Jaaskelainen.

"One was never going to be enough with Bolton's fighting qualities," conceded Liverpool's caretaker manager Phil Thompson, who watched with increasing dread as his side huffed and puffed and could not kill off the visitors.

"We seemed to fall under a spell after we'd grabbed the goal we had worked so hard to score. The effort's there but there's a lack of conviction in the final pass."

Until that problem is solved Liverpool will continue to falter where they might expect to flourish.

The draw was greeted with derisive howls from the stands, the sight of a sixth point in six games - with only one win along the way - hardly how Anfield had anticipated seeing in the new year.

LIVERPOOL: Dudek, Wright, Henchoz, Hyypia, Riise, Smicer (Anelka 67), Hamann, Gerrard, Berger (Litmanen 85), Owen, Heskey. Subs not used: McAllister, Kirkland, Carragher. Booked: Hyypia. Goal: Gerrard 50.

BOLTON: Jaaskelainen, Diawara, Hendry (Farrelly 32), N'Gotty, Charlton, Southall, Warhurst, Frandsen, Nolan, Ricketts, Holdsworth (Pedersen 72). Subs not used: Poole, Barness, Johnson. Booked: Southall, Hendry, Frandsen, Nolan. Goal: Nolan 78.

Referee: C Wilkes (Gloucester).