Middlesborough 0, Charlton 0: Steve McClaren has urged his Middlesbrough players to produce the kind of dazzling football which makes it impossible for the club's growing legion of stayaway fans to continue their current course of action.
Yet, on this evidence, those populating Teesside DIY stores, washing the car or simply poring over the Sunday papers made an infinitely wiser choice than the hardy souls who turned up more in hope than expectation.
Both sides employed a safety-first policy, which, when combined with the lack of an early goal to tempt either out of their shell, stifled creativity and ultimately led to utter frustration for all involved.
At the end, Boro received a chorus of disapproval from the 24,000 crowd, their lowest Premiership gate this season - another worrying statistic after only 17,000 turned up the previous weekend to see the FA Cup win over Manchester United.
Still, the draw might well prove invaluable come May, especially for the hosts, who edged a little nearer safety in an increasingly congested relegation scrap.
Boro are now only one point behind their North-east rivals Sunderland, whom they beat last Tuesday.
Charlton moved above Tottenham into eighth place.
McClaren admitted: "It wasn't a classic. It was an endurance test watching it and the players admit it wasn't a great game to play in; it was a game too far.
"Emotionally and physically the players looked drained and I can fully understand that. Without making excuses, it was always going to be a difficult game and it was never going to be pretty because we have to fight for every point."
Charlton's manager Alan Curbishley echoed the view: "It wasn't the best game. The conditions were poor.
"We've recently been beaten at Blackburn in an entertaining end-to-end game, so we've come up here determined to match Boro in terms of effort."
The nearest thing to a goal in the first half came seconds from the interval when Franck Queudrue's 25-yard free-kick was tipped to safety by Charlton's goalkeeper Dean Kiely as a fixture with a recent history of few goals lived down to expectation.
The two clearest openings of the game came late on, both falling to Boro's centre back Gareth Southgate. But he headed wide, then totally miskicked.
And this time Gianluca Festa, sent off for spitting at Sunderland, stayed on the pitch until the bitter end.
MIDDLESBROUGH: Crossley, Stockdale (Campbell 45), Gavin, Southgate, Festa, Queudrue, Stamp, Ince, Greening, Whelan, Windass (Marinelli 63). Subs Not Used: Mustoe, Murphy, Jones. Booked: Campbell.
CHARLTON: Kiely, Fish (Konchesky 35), Fortune, Powell, Costa, Bart-Williams, Robinson, Parker, Stuart, Euell (Svensson 82), Johansson (Lisbie 73). Subs Not Used: Ilic, Young. Booked: Costa, Robinson.
Referee: M Riley (Leeds).
