Defeated 2-0 by a visiting Manchester United, Blackburn now face yet another scrap to stay out of the relegation zone.

With both QPR and Wigan pulling off wins at the weekend, Rovers’ defeat now sees them back in the drop zone on goal difference.

At points during the match Blackburn looked like they may well see a repeat of December’s victory at Old Trafford. However, despite some brilliant attempts on goal Rovers just could not keep up the pace and were seen off with a brace from United in the final minutes.

However, Steve Kean insists his side’s performance tonight was one to be proud of.

He said: “I thought for eighty minutes we held our own. We had to take our chances and I thought we took those.”

“The goalkeeper [De Gea] had a great evening and we were causing a lot of problems.”

But with his side lagging in the final minutes, the manager defended his decision to make no substitutions. He said: “I don’t think it is tiredness but when you go on playing like that for eighty minutes you’re going to slip up at some point.”

Summing up his disappointment, he said: “I think we played well for the majority of this game and we did expect to get something from it. We have done a lot right tonight.”