BLACKBURN Rovers boss Gary Bowyer was delighted with his side's display as they swept aside Premier League Stoke City 4-1 at Ewood this afternoon to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Bowyer praised Josh King's individual brilliance as the Norwegian striker scored a memorable 19-minute hat-trick but emphasised the quality of the team performance as a whole.

He said: "It was a hell of a cup tie. We have immense pride for the supporters and it is a terrific result for the club.

"We were extremely disappointed to concede a soft goal but the lads bounced back from that.

"For myself and the players I think it is probably our biggest achievement in the time that we have been in charge.

"Full praise to them and full credit to them, they deserve every plaudit going.

"Against a quality team the lads worked ever so hard. It is a great example for them in what you can achieve when you do that.

"We will enjoy tonight but I said to the players, we have to focus on Cardiff for our next game. We would like another home draw but we will take each game as it comes."

Stoke City boss Mark Hughes admitted his players were outplayed by Rovers and acknowledged the home side executed their game plan more effectively.

He said: "We were well beaten today, credit to Blackburn, they put the ball in good area and used the threats they had up front. We didn't deal with it all afternoon, we got our noses in front without really dictating Blackburn. We allowed them to get back into the game.

"We couldn't deal with the pair of them [Rudy Gestede and Josh King]. All in all, a poor performance from us.

"We wanted to progress and I couldn't emphasise the point enough in the lead up to the cup games, but we need to get our heads down this week and not let our season peter out."