FULL-TIME: Blackburn Rovers 1 AEK Athens 2 (From Lancashire Telegraph)

FULL-TIME: Blackburn Rovers 1 AEK Athens 2

10:59am Wednesday 28th July 2010

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By Andy Cryer » Blackburn Rovers reporter

EWOOD Park has been surrounded by doom and gloom this summer but bright young star Phil Jones continues to suggest he will illuminate the Premier League stage for years to come.

Rovers crashed to a 2-1 defeat to AEK Athens yesterday morning, their second defeat in two games in the Sydney Festival of Football, but 18-year-old Jones’ second half display should have been a tonic for those worried Rovers fans.

Rovers boss Sam Allardyce was quick to point out post match that his youngsters still have a lot to learn after seeing the inexperie-nced centre half pairing of Jones and Grant Hanley pulled apart by the Greeks as they scored twice in three first half minutes to leave his side a mountain to climb.

But Jones was the driving force behind Rovers’ spirited second half fight back as, as well as scoring his first senior goal for the club, he seemed to be all over the field as he looked to add that missing spark to Rovers’ display.

Undoubtedly Allardyce’s solution to his striker search will prove to be his most important signing this summer but securing Jones on a five-year deal earlier this summer has to be a close second.

It won’t be long before the big guns are sniffing around one of the country’s hottest young prospects but, now committed on a long-term deal, it would take a huge amount of money to temp Rovers into a sale.

With talk of takeover frustration, failure to land a striker and a run of four straight pre-season defeats, you can understand why some of the blue and white army appear to be losing the faith.

But let’s keep things in perspective. Allardyce has yet to play his first team together yet, Nikola Kalinic’s injury signif-icantly weakens current striking options and, most importantly, it is still only pre-season.

This is the stage of the season where you want your manager to experiment, give all his players a run and work them hard in training for fitness.

Remember what happened after a poor summer in 1994/95. Premier League champions anyone?

Of course, the ease at which Athens seemed to be able to penetrate Rovers back line in the opening half an hour was a concern but it is highly unlikely two 18-year-olds, Jones and Hanley, will be paired together this season.

While individually both have shown more than enough to suggest they are ready for the Premier League, you get the feeling the likes of Chris Samba and Ryan are still needed to help them along in their progression.

In torrential rain, Rovers actually started well but early optimism soon drained away as the Greeks took the lead on 22 minutes.

Australian Nathan Burns led Jones a merry dance down the right and his low cross was collected by Nacho Scocco who, after turning inside Steven Nzonzi, curled the ball past Paul Robinson.

Their lead was doubled two minutes later as, with Rovers’ defence caught napping, Leonardo’s right wing cross was volleyed home by the unmarked Nikos Liberopoulos.

Jones looked to take matters into his own hands as he drove through AEK’s defence on 33 minutes but no-one was in the box to convert his low cross.

Lack of attacking threat was then Rovers’ biggest problem, especially after the break, as they dominated large spells of possession without hurting the Greek defence.

Robinson had to be alert to stop Burns on 54, after an underhit Chimbonda back pass, but it was Rovers who did most of the second half running without much reward.

Jones though got Rovers back into the fiery encounter when he headed home Morten Gamst Pedersen’s cross on 82 but, despite late pressure, an equaliser was not forthcoming.

Rovers line-up: Paul Robinson, Lars Jacobsen, Phil Jones, Grant Hanley, Gael Givet (Chimbonda 39), Brett Emerton (Junior Hoilett 60), Keith Andrews, Steven Nzonzi (El-Hadji Diouf 71), Martin Olsson (Josh Morris 67), David Dunn (Morten Gamst Pedersen 57), Jason Roberts.

Subs not used: Michel Salgado, Mark Bunn, Vince Grella, Maceo Rigters.

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Your Say YourTelegraph

Iii1111, zxc says...
11:04am Wed 28 Jul 10

1-2 loss

That old ginger nut Robbie Slater was commentating on this game for Fox …for the last 20 min Rovers have improved said the little Aussie…couldn’t have played any worse.

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…Big fat Sam is complaining about AEK’s rough tactics & blaming the two young centre halfs ….Can you believe this idiot …Jones was far and away the best player on the pitch and scored a goal to boot, something Roberts could only dream about!
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Hard long season if these friendly games are to go by.