ANY goalkeeper might reckon that a corner taken by Portsmouth not long before the end of a goalless match would be propelled to Peter Crouch — or, failing him, Sol Campbell. One has a basketballer’s build; the other is always an intimidating presence.

An attempt to score a direct goal by a substitute who had been on the pitch for one minute would not be anticipated. That, though, was how Nadir Belhadj deceived Jussi Jaaskelainen, with Kanu gaining the significant touch.

Belhadj, naturally left- footed, had come on for the injured Niko Kranjcar and cheekily tried to beat Jaaskelainen at his near post. Kanu, also a substitute, was in the relevant place. Bolton ’s goalkeeper had been just about the outstanding player throughout the match, yet on this occasion he was completely deceived.

There were 12 minutes remaining at this point, but Bolton had only once looked likely to score throughout a decidedly edgy afternoon.

“We retained our patience and are very competitive and hard to beat,” said Portsmouth manager Paul Hart. “We have found a way of playing that makes us a difficult team to play against — but so are Bolton.”

Before kick-off, he had said: “It is not about silky football, it is all about results,” which indicated that his role as caretaker is simply to ensure Portsmouth are not relegated.

Hart was kidding himself when he declared this to be “an excellent performance” by his team. When Harry Redknapp left, so did any sense of style, and the concern for the fans must be that it will not be seen again at Fratton Park. As with Gordon Strachan at Southampton, Redknapp knew when the point had been reached at which the club would progress no further.

The first half was an indication of this viewpoint as two teams of roughly similar standard and residual concerns about dropping down to the Championship slugged it out in midfield.

Once, Glen Johnson — returning from suspension and used on the right of midfield — burst past two defenders and had his shot punched away by Jaaskelainen. Another time, granted space to swivel, Johnson hit the right post. There was a third attempt when his drive from Kranjcar’s excellent square pass was struck straight at the goalkeeper. But it would be stretching a point to describe Portsmouth’s game as having a silky sheen about it.

At the other end, David James’s performance was characteristically uneven: after dropping a straightforward corner, he reacted brilliantly in saving right-handed from a drive by Johan Elmander, a lone, over-worked forward for Bolton.

As for Bolton’s two returning players of yesteryear, Matt Taylor and Andrew O’Brien, there was no opportunity for appreciation given by the match announcer when he introduced the teams. A booking between them was their main contribution on a day when their chief requirement was to provide gritty defence.

The second half was no less scrappy. An attempt by Kranjcar — one of the more creative players on show before he was taken off on a stretcher with 15 minutes remaining — was held by Jaaskelainen, but there was little else.