Win puts Blackburn in good Stead

Everton 0 Blackburn 1

The win pulls Rovers further away from the relegation zone while stopping the Toffees from increasing their hold on the fourth Champions League spot.

But Rovers boss Hughes was only concerned about his own side's plight and 21-year-old Stead's part in a dogged display.

Hughes said: "We knew we needed to get something out of the game considering the other results this weekend for teams below us in the table, Southampton and West Brom.

"There is a real resolve in the dressing room and we showed what we are about this time."

Stead's second-half strike was his first of a difficult season. "He came on as a substitute this time in difficult circumstances - we had just lost Paul Dickov - but he ran his socks off and scored a great goal to win the game, Hughes added.

Everton boss David Moyes could not hide his bitter disappointment, saying: "We did not play well and we can't argue with that result. We are not thinking about things like missed opportunities, we are just looking for three points and we did not do enough to earn them.

"We didn't play well. Last week at Villa we had maybe nine or 10 playing at their peak and this time we had plenty well below average. Certainly below the standards we have set.

"Losing Mikel Arteta injured early on didn't help but we had not started the game well so the change of formation gave us a bit more of the ball. But we didn't have enough quality in our play."

EVERTON: Martyn, Hibbert, Weir, Yobo, Pistone (McFadden 76), Carsley, Osman, Cahill, Arteta (Ferguson 24), Kilbane, Bent.

BLACKBURN: Friedel, Neill, Todd, Nelsen, Johansson, Mokoena, Reid, Flitcroft, Thompson, Pedersen, Dickov (Stead 14).

Referee: P Dowd (Staffordshire).