Blackburn Rovers Football News & Views on Blackburn's European Ambitions Dented

Mark Hughes Blackburn Rovers side are entitled to consider that they should have got more out of their visit to White Hart Lane than a disappointing 1-1 draw against Spurs, particularly after they had controlled the first half and scored the best goal of the game with Benni McCarthys powerful header from Pedersens cross.

Though the home side improved after the interval, particularly with the introduction of Keane, Samba squandered a golden opportunity to wrap the game up when he headed against the bar from close range in the second half. After that, it seemed only a matter of time before Spurs equaliser, which came in the 66th minute when Berbatovs angled shot was parried by Friedel and run in by the alert Defoe, and the home side could have taken all three points late on, but Keanes shot rebounded off the far post.

The closing stages were marred by an extraordinarily petty dismissal of Jason Roberts by the smirking Rob Styles a decision which merely reinforces the impression that he is a long way from the top referee he evidently thinks he is.