11:10am Monday 8th February 2010
By Andy Cryer
SAM Allardyce admits his Blackburn Rovers side were not clever enough to see off Stoke City’s physical challenge – but insists referee Steve Bennett has to shoulder some of the blame as well.
The Rovers boss was furious with his side’s defending as they gifted the hosts a 2-0 half time lead but also pointed to key decisions in playing a part in the defeat.
Allardyce insists his side should have been awarded a penalty when Chris Samba’s header appeared to strike Dean Whitehead’s hand on the line, before blasting the decision to send off the African soon after the break.
He said: “We knew we would have to come here and work hard and anything we got we were going to have to make ourselves.
“What we didn’t do was stop Stoke doing what they do. If we had defended correctly we would have been well in the game.
“The blame is some of ours and some of the referees.
"It has accumulated in a very disappointing 3-0 defeat on our behalf.
“We didn’t match them physically because we are not quite as physical as them but we had to be cleverer.
"A lot of the time we weren't clever enough in our thought pattern and our game pattern.
“We got big chances though at 1-0 down, one was taken away by the official and the other one was a missed sitter from us.
"They are the critical moments and we didn't get them right.”
Danny Higginbotham volleyed Stoke ahead on just nine minutes, after being left unmarked by Pascal Chimbonda, before Gael Givet allowed Mamady Sidibe double the lead on 45 minutes.
Matthew Etherington made sure of the win after the break with a third, although by then Samba had already seen red for being booked twice for innocuous challenges.
Allardyce said: “It is easy to see where we have gone wrong for the first goal.
"By not marking the Stoke players correctly and because we haven’t done that, we have been working on it for two days, we decide to let Higginbotham free.
“Great credit for the finish but we should have had someone nearer.
“So we go 1-0 down and it is not the end of the world.
"We come storming back, we have Franco's header from six yards out that has to hit the target.
“Then we have got that flurry of corners, six on the trot, and there is huge pressure on Stoke.
"Then Chris Samba comes up with a monster, monster header – the ball is going in the back of the net and Whitehead puts his arm out and it goes wide.
“It should have been 1-1, or a penalty and Stoke down to 10 men and us back in the game.
"It is unfair from our point of view and it is the second time we have had this situation. We had the same at West Ham and we have been really given a bitter pill to swallow.
“It it is not the referee’s fault for our defending on the second goal, that is poor defending from Givet at the far post and of course it is an uphill battle.
“Then lo and behold we bizarrely get Chris Samba sent off.
"I don’t know why he was booked for the first one. Now it is a sending off and we miss him.
"All in all a very disappointing day indeed.”
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