BLACKBURN Rovers today said their doctor was told to force open their dressing room door at the Reebok Stadium after waiting for ten minutes with "distraught" player Steven Reid.

The club was replying Bolton Wanderers' chairman Phil Gartside who told a national newspaper of his anger at damage, for which, he said, he had sent Rovers a £200 bill.

Mr Gartside said: "It's not the damage which upsets me, it's the principle of the matter. I approached the doctor straight away. He offered me no apology and just said the door was locked.

"If our club doctor or any of our members of staff did anything like this we would probably sack him or at the very least fine him two weeks' wages, the same treatment given to players."

But in a statement today, Rovers' chief executive John Williams said the incident happened after Dr Phil Batty escorted Reid down the tunnel after he had received a red card in the second half on Saturday at Bolton's Reebok Stadium.

"The steward on duty, who was the only key holder, had apparently gone to make a cup of tea. Dr Batty had a distraught player on his hands. Steven had been sent off on his debut for the club within minutes of entering the game and Dr Batty's primary concern was for the welfare of his player.

"After enquiring about the absence of the keyholder and having been told that the key had been missing for 10 minutes, Dr Batty told another Bolton steward in attendance that he may need to try to force the door he was told 'go on then'.

"We shall certainly pay the bill, an offer I made to Phil Gartside after the game. Indeed, Dr Batty has insisted to me that he would like to settle the bill personally. I am surprised and disappointed that details of the incident, together with quotes from the Bolton chairman have unnecessarily found their way into the press."