GRAEME Souness admitted he would have sacrificed a return trip to Cardiff for the three league points picked up against Manchester United yesterday.

Blackburn Rovers were drawn against Sir Alex Ferguson's men in the Worthington Cup semi-final after beating Wigan Athletic in the last eight of the competition, meaning they would face them three times in a month.

But while more Worthington Cup glory would hand them another venture into Europe next season, Souness would rather focus his attentions on the Premiership.

"The Premiership is the most important thing for this club at the moment," said the Rovers' boss after seeing his side end United's eight-game winning run with a solitary Garry Flitcroft goal.

"This is our second season back in the Premiership and we've got to try to stay in this league if we are to go forward.

"If you'd have asked me before the game, I would have sacrificed the other two games to have won today. So, at the moment, we're a bit ahead of ourselves."

And Souness praised his defence for their part in Rovers' first win over United since April 1994.

"I thought we defended very well and that pleased me," he said.

"We started in a nervous fashion, maybe showed United too much respect and handed them the initiative. But the longer the game went on we started to pick more of the second ball up and I think that was a big influence on the game.

"We looked very solid and that's something I hope we can carry into other games because, I've said before, I feel that if we could get that right we could finish in a very nice position.

"I know we can play football. I know at times we can't when we don't look solid. But if we can carry on like defensively between now and the end of the season, I'll be a very happy man."

Manchester United old boys Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke also earned plaudits from their manager.

"I thought the front two were excellent, they worked their socks off and they would have enjoyed the game," Souness said.

"I think we caused them some problems but at one goal up you're never going to be happy because of the players they have in their team.

"It's a bit scary when you look at their bench and Roy Keane's about to come on and David Beckham's about to come on. So, we had to keep going right to the end.

"How do you play against United? How do you play against any of the top teams? Do you try to stop Van Nistelrooy, then what about Scholes, what about Solskjaer, what about David Beckham? It goes on and on, but we did it yesterday."

Captain Flitcroft hopes his goal - his first against United - will be enough to persuade Souness to offer him an extended deal.

"I want to stay loyal to Blackburn and stay here but it's up to the club now to come good for me," he said.

"I've left my contract in the club's hands. They offered me an extra one-year deal on the year-and-a-half I've got left, which wasn't enough. I need security for my family.

"If John Williams comes back to me I'll be more than willing to sit down but it's getting close the January window now."

He added: "I've played against Manchester United and never scored, so it was great to get the winner."