Kean applauds Blackburn display

Steve Kean says a point gained against Man United was better than two lost

Blackburn boss Steve Kean insisted his relegation-threatened side had gained a point rather than lost two after they drew 1-1 with Manchester United.

Blackburn now lie a point above the drop zone ahead of next weekend’s trip to Wolves, and some fans were angered by their lack of adventure late on.

But Kean said: “I could understand the fans wanting us to go and get the ball.

“But if we do, and Manchester United smash it up the other end, we might come out of the game with nothing.”

With 17 minutes remaining, Blackburn – leading through Brett Emerton’s first-half strike – looked set fair to emerge with all three points, which would have virtually guaranteed survival given their goal-difference advantage over the teams around them.

But Paul Robinson’s foul on Javier Hernandez threw United a lifeline, and Wayne Rooney held his nerve to fire home the resulting penalty, which was enough to earn the visitors the draw they needed to claim a record 19th top-flight title.

“When United scored, all of a sudden we were left with a dilemma,” said Kean.

“They left four players high up the pitch, and tried to play a little bit of possession to run the clock down.

“It was slightly frustrating at the end that we couldn’t actually get the ball, because they were just keeping it.

“But we got a point closer to safety and kept our goal difference intact, which could prove to be vital point come next weekend.”

Nonetheless, the Scot admitted that it was frustrating not to claim all three points.

“We were a little bit disappointed at the end, because we’d managed to go and get our noses in front and I thought that the way we stuck to our guns in the first half and kept our shape was excellent.

“We probably needed the second goal, and had Martin Olsson’s header gone in rather than cannoning off the crossbar then we’d probably have taken all the points.”

The draw leaves Blackburn in 15th place on 40 points, the same as Wolves, who won 3-1 at Sunderland but have an inferior goal difference (-19 compared to Blackburn’s -14).

One place above the bottom three are Birmingham, who play Fulham at home tomorrow and have 39 points, the same as Blackpool, who beat Bolton 4-3 at home but remain in the relegation zone on goal difference.

Kean added: “It’s very tight, but all we can do is what we’ve done over the last eight games. We’ve chipped away with six results, and I think that’s positive.

“We’ve got the best goal difference and we’ll continue to work and continue to push.

“The effort was there from all the lads and the way we stuck to the game plan was excellent. We just needed that second goal, but it never came.”