DEFENSIVE strong-man Craig Short today called on Rovers to pull out all the stops in their contract talks with Garry Flitcroft after the Ewood midfielder underlined his importance to the club with a match-winning performance Manchester United.

Negotiations between Flitcroft and the club broke down last week following a dispute over the length of terms being offered to the player.

But if anyone on the board was still in any doubt as to the skipper's value to this team then surely they were erased here after Flitcroft let his feet do the talking in the most emphatic way imagineable.

Sir Alex Ferguson's resurgent United have swept all before them during the last five weeks as Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea have all been washed away by an all-engulfing red tide.

But their eight-game winning run came screeching to a halt after Flitcroft was the driving force behind this stunning 1-0 victory.

The former Manchester City star grabbed the winner with a thumping first half volley to put a dent in United's title aspirations.

And not even the return of controversial Irishman Roy Keane as a second half substitute could save Fergie's men as they crashed to their first league defeat in six outings.

Flitcroft's match-winning strike ensured he stole the headlines but it was his all-round display which prompted Short to hail him as Ewood's very own answer to Keane.

The 30-year-old midfielder very rarely gets the credit his performances deserve as Rovers' flair players tend to lap up the plaudits.

But, when it comes to the muck and bullets side of the game, few players relish a scrap more than the Rovers skipper and it was those fighting qualities which dragged the rest of his team-mates through one of their biggest tests of the season so far.

"People call them midfield enforcers and when you sit in the dressing room before a game and you want someone who's going to run through a brick wall for you then Flitty's the man," said Short.

"A lot of Garry's work goes unnoticed. In this team there's so many ball players and crowd pleasers that you need players like him to help balance it out.

"When he was out for that period which included the Celtic game it showed how much we miss him.

"He's not going to do a Tugay and spray balls around but for every Tugay you need a Garry Flitcroft in your team.

"He's our equivalent to Roy Keane or Patrick Vieira and people feel a lot more comfortable when he's in the side.

"He's very unselfish and I'd rather have someone like that in my side than someone who's going to please the crowd."

Rovers spent most of the first half on the back foot as the outstanding Paul Scholes pulled the strings in the centre of the park.

But Flitcroft almost single-handedly kept his side in the hunt, chasing and harrying opponents as if his life depended on it and that seemed to have a galvanising effect on those around him.

Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke suddenly started closing men down as Rovers defended from the front.

And, with Short and Martin Taylor doing an excellent job of keeping Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Diego Forlan in check at the back, Graeme Souness's side gradually got a foothold in proceedings and then grew stronger as the game wore on.

Taylor, in particular, summed up the home side's spirit with two brilliant blocks to thwart United when they did threaten to break through.

But, for all their pretty patterns and possession, the visitors barely forced a serious save out of Brad Friedel during the entire 90 minutes.

United dominated proceedings in the opening half hour and only a couple of timely interventions from Taylor prevented Van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solksjaer from putting them in front.

But, after David Dunn then forced a smart save out of Fabien Barthez with a rasping right-foot drive, it was the home side who did finally break the deadlock in the 41st minute.

The United defence failed to deal with Damien Duff's free-kick and when the ball dropped kindly 10 yards out there was Flitcroft to hammer home the opening goal.

In the second half both sides traded chances as the game became more and more stretched.

United's best chance fell to Van Nistelrooy who rounded Friedel but fired into the side-netting.

Then at the other end, United old-boy Yorke had a great chance to kill the game off but amazingly fired wide with only Barthez to beat.

Ferguson threw on both Keane and England skipper David Beckham from the bench in a desperate attempt to snatch a point.

But, if anything, it was Rovers who threatened to increase their advantage.

Tugay went close with a free kick, Cole blazed over and a shot from Yorke found the side-netting in a frantic finale.

But in the end, Flitcroft's goal proved enough and no-one deserved to soak up the glory more than the skipper.

ROVERS 1

(Flitcroft 41)

MANCHESTER UNITED 0