Ince winces at Sam’s start

AMID the cheers and whoops of Blackburn’s ecstatic supporters, the contented chatter of Sam Allardyce and the celebratory high-fives of his players, there was another sound just about audible in Lancashire on Saturday night: the noise of Paul Ince gnashing his teeth.

Rovers’ spectacular return to form here came too late for Ince, sacked last week after just six months in charge following a six-game losing run which prompted panic buttons to be pressed in the Ewood Park boardroom.

Ince is understood to consider the decision deeply unfair — especially as it came just when a juicy run of fixtures was looming large on the horizon — and this belatedly emphatic display will not ease his sense of injustice.