Rovers muscle their way towards safety

IF Sam Allardyce has cut a largely relaxed figure compared to his managerial peers in the relegation scrap, a glance at his team-sheet might explain why.

While Blackburn’s rivals at the foot of the table can generally be deemed powder-puff, Allardyce possess raw power and brutal physicality by the bucketful. Now, just like their fellow partners in crime, Stoke City, Rovers appear to be easing towards safety.

Two set-pieces were enough to dispose of a luckless Wigan yesterday, with Benni McCarthy nodding in from a corner just before half-time and Ryan Nelsen, with exquisite timing, flicking home his first-ever goal for Rovers.