BENNI McCarthy has backed Jason Roberts to finish the season with a flourish after the Blackburn Rovers striker finally broke his scoring duck for the club at the weekend.

One of the main plusses to come from Sunday's heartbreaking FA Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea was the performance of Roberts, who ended his nine-month wait for a goal on his 20th appearance when he pounced to score a fine second half equaliser.

That poacher's finish changed the whole complexion of the tie and, for a spell, Rovers threatened to wreck Chelsea's quadruple dream, before Michael Ballack popped up to fire in the winner during the second period of extra-time.

But, while Rovers were gutted' to see their Wembley hopes dashed, there were still plenty of positives for Mark Hughes to take from the game, not least the contribution of Roberts, who seized his chance to impress after he was surprisingly handed a starting role for the first time since the 3-2 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in February.

"I'm ecstatic for Jason," said McCarthy.

"He works so hard for the team, he's been out injured, and he's come back.

"He's been a bit frustrated, but he's been given a chance against the champions, and he came in and did his job excellently.

"He did more than what was expected of him.

"He scored the goal that gave us hope, and we gave it everything we'd got after that."

McCarthy and Roberts may have experienced contrasting fortunes on the pitch during their first season together at Blackburn, but off it they have formed a close friendship, which the South African reckons could lead to them becoming an explosive partnership during the run-in.

"It was fantastic (playing alongside Jason on Sunday. He's one of my best mates in the team," said McCarthy.

"We are always hanging around together at training, and when we go home we are always speaking to each other, which is good."