Wilkinson feels frustration

Sunderland manager Howard Wilkinson was left cursing his luck in the FA Cup today at Ewood Park.

Blackburn secured a fourth round replay after Dwight Yorke scored the equaliser in stoppage time.

Sunderland had been cruising but squandered a two-goal lead and Wilkinson felt they didn’t get the rub of the green from referee David Elleray.

Marcus Stewart opened the scoring for the Barclaycard Premiership strugglers only for Andy Cole to equalise.

The former Newcastle and Manchester United striker then added a second goal after Kevin Phillips and Mark Proctor had put Sunderland in the driving seat.

After the 3-3 draw, Wilkinson said: “I thought we deserved to win and that we had done enough.

“We were unlucky and I would like to see their first goal again. I thought Cole was offside.

“We should also have had two penalties, one in the first half and one in the second half.

“It was a good performance, especially in the first 20 minutes of the first half and probably until the last 15 minutes of the game.”

Sunderland showed good confidence for a side struggling in the league and Wilkinson said: “We have been playing without any fear the last three weeks.

“It has been apparent in training and in games. I have tried to address that problem and the penny has dropped.”

Blackburn manager Graeme Souness said his team “defended like strangers”.

But he was pleased with their fighting spirit after the Worthington Cup defeat by Manchester United in midweek.

He said: “Come to Ewood Park for thrills. It was a good game for the neutrals.

“We were dead and buried at 3-1 but we came back -that’s the upside. Our defending was a shambles at times.

“We know we can attack and threaten. Our defending was pretty ordinary.

“We changed our formation around and found ourselves 3-1 down. That’s how well it worked.”