10:11am Monday 12th May 2008
By Suzanne Geldard
MARK Hughes struggled to disguise the anger of succumbing to a 4-1 defeat on the final day of the season at relegated Birmingham City.
But battling against raw emotions after missing out on an Intertoto Cup place, the Blackburn Rovers manager was able to reflect on a successful campaign overall.
"We're disappointed with the result obviously because we had an opportunity to get in Europe," said Hughes.
"It's difficult to be positive immediately after the game but we're seventh in the Premier League. It's a huge effort by everybody and we've improved since last year, and when I've had time to calm down I'll look back and congratulate everybody involved because it's been a huge effort by a lot of people."
With sixth-placed competitors Aston Villa only managing a draw at West Ham United, a win at St Andrew's would have put Rovers in the frame for a third successive season in the UEFA Cup via the Intertoto competition.
After recovering from a first-half deficit, following an uncharacteristic error by goalkeeper Brad Friedel, Rovers got back into the game with Morten Gamst Pedersen's 49th minute equaliser.
But chances to take the lead were squandered, and Hughes' men paid a heavy price.
"I've not seen the (first) goal since. I was more disappointed with the second goal because we were in the ascendancy and at 1-1 we felt we were going to go on and win the game. It wasn't to be," Hughes continued.
"The win was what we were after; we needed to get three points today. A draw wasn't enough, so we threw people forward. There was a little bit of indiscipline, we got a bit ragged and we got punished because of it.
"You look at some of the results; Manchester City have gone under somewhat. We do okay given what we've got, and we get the maximum out of them more often than not. On some occasions we're not quite up to the level that we need to be. Today was one of those, but we'll come good.
"We've had three top 10 finishes now; we've been sixth, 10th and seventh. It's a huge effort. Everybody in and around us have huge resources, resources that we haven't got and we're still competing. We're successful because we work hard, and that's right through the club, so we've just got to keep going."
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