IT'S not often Sir Alex Ferguson admits to making mistakes. But as the inquest into Manchester United's current defensive frailties deepens, maybe it's time for the red-faced Scot to admit he dropped a clanger in allowing Henning Berg to leave Old Trafford.

For while Fabian Barthez and his leaky defence were starring in their own version of Carry On Defending at Highbury yesterday, the man Fergie showed the door a year ago inspired Rovers to yet another hugely impressive point at the Bridge 24 hours earlier.

According to the TV advert, 'Netto' is the Scandinavian word for value.

But many more performances like this and they might want to change that to 'Berg' after the cut-price Norwegian turned in an imperious display.

In terms of sheer consistency and commitment alone, the Blackburn defender must surely have few peers in the Premiership at present.

And, like a fine wine, the 32-year-old just seems to get better and better with age!

Chelsea hit-man Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink became the latest high-profile star to be snuffed out by the former United man.

And Ewood boss Graeme Souness was in no doubt about who deserved the plaudits after Rovers fought a brilliant rearguard action against Claudio Ranieri's title pretenders.

"I thought we defended magnificently as a team but Henning and Craig Short were both outstanding in particular," said Souness.

"Henning was arguably our most important player last season so he's been a great signing for us.

"He's been outstanding since the day he arrived, he's got a great appetite for it, and maybe we take his performances for granted sometimes because he does it every week."

Those thoughts were also echoed by Short -- the second half of Ewood's iron curtain.

When Rovers won promotion in the summer, there was a school of thought which suggested the veteran duo may struggle to cut it in the Premiership.

But their partnership at the heart of the defence has been one of the key ingredients in the team's success over the last 12 months.

And Short knows more than anyone just how much of that has been down to his partner in crime.

"I don't know the reason why United let him go but Henning has been superb for us from the moment he signed.

"I think all managers just want their defenders to be consistent rather than trying to do anything flash.

"And Henning isn't flashy, he's just very, very consistent.

"He's very experienced and he can upset people now and again because he can moan a bit!

"But, seriously, he's a pleasure to play with and I've thoroughly enjoyed playing alongside him.

"Neither of us are particularly quick but he just reads a game so well, he never seems to get exposed."

Berg and Co were never going to make it easy for Ranieri's Euro flops to take the three points -- as their record against the rest of the title hopefuls shows.

And but for a bit more luck in front of goal, they could even have nicked a win themselves after carving out the better of what few clear chances there were in a real cat and mouse encounter.

Like the Liverpool game last week, Souness again used Matt Jansen as a lone ranger up front, opting instead to pack the midfield in a bid to frustrate the Blues into submission.

And the gameplan worked to such an extent that Chelsea fans ended up booing their own team off at the final whistle after watching them stutter to their eighth draw in 13 Premiership games.

Those tactics may have done little for the match as a spectacle but Souness was in no mood to apologise afterwards -- and why should he?

In the First Division last season, Rovers played the same home and away in the belief that their football was ultimately good enough to beat anyone.

In the top-flight, however, you need to be far cuter in your approach, especially on opposition soil, and the recent switch to a 4-5-1 formation has transformed Rovers into a side desperately difficult to break down -- as Ranieri discovered.

On the few occasions when Chelsea did breach the visitors well-drilled defence, the normally deadly Hasselbaink fired blanks in front of goal.

Three times the Dutch master sized up shots from the edge of the box but his efforts posed more danger to the stewards patrolling the stands than Brad Friedel as he sliced each one horribly wide.

Rovers, in contrast, looked threatening on the break and Jansen in particular carried the fight with a lively first half performance up front.

He burst through after just two minutes only for Graeme Le Saux to get back and make what looked like a last-ditch tackle only for TV replays to later show the Ewood old boy clearly handled in the box.

Then 12 minutes later, he met Damien Duff's cross with an acrobatic volley but his effort flew wide.

The clearest chance of the game, however, fell to Alan Mahon in the 16th minute.

Keith Gillespie, bristling with invention on the right, embarked on a mesmerising run and, when his pass broke kindly for Mahon off the legs of Frank Lampard, the young Irishman saw his shot bravely saved by Carlo Cudicini.

Gillespie then went agonisingly close to an opener himself with a rasping drive which flashed wide of the far post.

That prompted a double switch by Ranieri at the break, as Eidur Gudjohnsen and Sam Dalla Bona entered the fray in place of the ineffective Gianfranco Zola and Boudewijn Zenden.

That injected a greater urgency into the Blues and they posed more problems as a result.

Friedel denied both subs with smart stops and only a perfectly timed tackle from Short prevented Hasselbaink from adding to his season's tally.

Rovers had a chance of their own to snatch it, though, when a David Dunn free kick fizzed just wide of Cudicini's right-hand post.

But, in the end, a draw was about right.

"It wasn't a great game of attacking football but we're new to this league and we're not going to come to places like Stamford Bridge and make it easy for them," said Souness.

"We had a gameplan and it worked for the largest part. The idea was to defend well, weather some of the storms that came our way and, hopefully, nick something at the other end.

"And on another day that could have happened."

RESULT: CHELSEA...0

ROVERS...0

Attendance...37,978