FRUSTRATED Blackburn manager Mark Hughes felt his players passed up a golden opportunity at the weekend to strike an early psychological blow in the build-up to next month's FA Cup semi-final with Arsenal at Cardiff.

The Gunners arrived at Ewood on Saturday without a number of star names in their line-up, but Rovers failed to take full advantage as Robin Van Persie's expertly taken first half goal earned the Londoners a 1-0 win.

"We felt this was a real opportunity but our efforts in recent weeks caught up with us for the first time," said Hughes.

"It's understandable. The players have put in a fantastic effort of late and there was going to be a point where it was going to come back and affect us and I think we saw that in the second half.

"There was a number of players who weren't at the level we need them to be and we can't afford to carry too many players.

"We need a high ratio of players in the team to be playing at their best level and today, for a number of reasons, we had several players below the level they should have been."

For 43 minutes, Rovers managed to match the reigning Premier League champions in virtually every department, but then a brief lapse of concentration at the back allowed Van Persie to strike in devastating fashion and Arsenal were always in control from that point on.

"In the first half I was quite happy," said Hughes.

"I thought we'd done reasonably well but then we switched off for a brief second and conceded two minutes from the end, which really hurt us.

"In the second half, we found it difficult to get any momentum going in the game and in fairness, Arsenal were very professional.

"They got plenty of men behind the ball, they broke the play up, and it was difficult for us to create the chances that we needed.

"But the disappointing thing for me was we didn't see the first half out and then regroup in order to come again for the second half.

"Once we conceded that goal, it was always going to be a difficult day for us."

Hughes was also disappointed with the performance of referee Graham Poll, whose incessant whistle blowing repeatedly disrupted the flow of proceedings, particularly in the second half when Rovers were chasing the game.

"I was disappointed with that," said Hughes.

"There was no flow to the game, it was very stop-start, and from Arsenal's point of view, once they scored, the onus was on us to try and break them down and we found that difficult.

"They stopped us getting any kind of momentum going by taking their time over free kicks and what have you, but that's a professional performance.

"We felt the ref might have stepped in a little bit earlier and kept the flow of the game going a little better, but he didn't."

Now Hughes must rally his troops ahead of next month's re-match with Arsenal at The Millennium Stadium.

Arsene Wenger's side might have struck an early psychological blow but Hughes is adamant the semi-final will be a completely different game.

The Rovers boss added: "I think it will be a completely different situation for the Cup semi-final.

"Today, I think we just paid for the efforts of recent weeks.

"We've made a fantastic effort in the last few games and I think it caught up with us somewhat.

"