BLACKBURN boss Mark Hughes said Rovers paid the price for two bad defensive errors as their eight-match unbeaten run came grinding to a halt at Old Trafford yesterday.

Rovers lost 2-0 to Manchester United after Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice in the space of 90 seconds, midway through the first half, for the defending Premier League champions.

However, a bitterly frustrated Hughes later said he felt his players contributed to their own downfall.

"We're disappointed and a little bit frustrated that we weren't able to have a real go, just because of circumstances and the two occasions when we let ourselves down," said the Rovers boss.

"We more than held our own in the first half, and created some decent chances.

"But then we switched off at a set-play, which is always disappointing, and when you give Ronaldo a free header inside the six-yard box, then you are always likely to pay the price.

"If you do concede then you've got to be really resolute and make sure you don't concede another straight after.

"We've had experience of that in the UEFA Cup this season, against Larissa, but unfortunately it occurred again and we are going to have to learn from that.

"The second goal was the major disappointment because it was basically just a big, long hoof out of defence from Rio Ferdinand, and that's something we always work on in training, so we should have dealt with it.

"We're disappointed because it's two situations that could have been avoided."

To compound Hughes' misery, Rovers also finished the game with 10-men, wrecking any chance of a fightback, when David Dunn was dismissed for a second bookable offence in the 52nd minute.

"The first booking, we are really disappointed with," said Hughes.

"If you look at it closely, there was a little bit of contact initially (between Dunn and Carlos Tevez), but the assistant didn't wave the flag until the lad fell down.

"So it wasn't for the initial challenge. He tried to make out that he pulled his shirt, but it was six of one and half a dozen of the other.

"It never warranted a booking, so we are disappointed.

"The second one came only seven or eight minutes into the second half, when players are still trying to get warm, so you are always going to get mis-timed challenges, which it was.

"I'm sure the referee will say, By the letter of the law, it was a bookable offence'.

"But there were 75,000 people in the stadium and I'm sure they were all looking forward to a really competitive second half.

"But as soon as he deems the challenge worthy of a second yellow card, he has to send him off, and the game is poorer because of that because, as a contest, it was over."

Rovers are without a game for two weeks now, due to the international break, but Hughes has urged his players to embark on another long unbeaten run when they return to action at Fulham in a fortnight.

He added: "We've come a long way, we've had a great run, and now it's up to us to pick ourselves up and look ahead to Fulham, and go on another long unbeaten run."