BENNI McCarthy has vowed to dig deep and put in the extra miles in a bid to play himself back into favour with Blackburn manager Mark Hughes.

The former Porto ace was dropped for Wednesdays night's fifth round FA Cup replay with Arsenal, but instead of sulking, he provided the perfect response, climbing off the bench to score a dramatic 87th minute winner, which set up a last eight meeting with Manchester City.

It was a stunning strike from the South African, and Hughes was quick to praise the brilliance of it afterwards, saying it was a goal worthy of winning any game.' But while McCarthy's star quality has rarely been called into question during his inaugural season in English football, his work-rate occasionally has, which might explain his surprising omission from Hughes' last two starting line-ups.

One national newspaper even went so far as claiming the pair had had a bust-up last week - an accusation Hughes has since denied, although McCarthy's goal celebration on Wednesday night perhaps suggested otherwise.

Whatever the truth is of that particular situation, it's clear McCarthy recognises the need to up his work-rate if he is to achieve his full potential in England.

And if that means rolling up his sleeves and clocking up the miles for the cause, then it is something he is willing to do.

"The manager is always telling me that you can be the best player in the world, but if you don't do the dirty work, the hard yards, it means nothing," said McCarthy.

"He has told me I'm probably one of the most gifted and skilful players he has ever played with, or has had in one of the teams he has managed, but that I can be even greater.

"I can do much better things if I can adapt to the English way of thinking - the hard work and chasing the balls down.

"If I can do that with my skill and ability then I can be a complete player."

Hughes takes great pride in the work ethic he has managed to instil into his players, and the introduction of ProZone - a video-based coaching tool that provides in-depth computer analysis of an individual's performance - ensures there's no hiding place for anyone not pulling their weight.

"It's a system that in part measures how much you run," explained McCarthy.

"I've been climbing up the ladder and I'm doing a couple of miles a game now. I never used to work as hard as this when I was with Porto because we always had the ball."

If anyone can bring the best out in McCarthy then surely it's Hughes, who clearly has the player's respect, even if his decision to rest' him might have temporarily wounded his pride.

"As a manager, he's so laid back, so calm and so full of class," added the 16-goal hitman, who is hoping for a recall against Bolton on Sunday.

"He lets us express ourselves, and he is trying new different things than when he was a player. He is young and he can only get better."