Blackburn see off Grimsby

Blackburn 4 Grimsby 1

Blackburn overcame the shock of going a goal down inside seven minutes to exert their Premier League class and see off League Two outfit Grimsby to advance to the third round of the Carling Cup.

Rovers manager Paul Ince made eight changes to his starting line-up following the weekend draw against Hull and saw the visitors grab a deserved early lead through Tom Newey’s curling free-kick.

However, after striker Carlos Villanueva found an equaliser within 10 minutes that his lively debut deserved, Rovers emphasised their superiority thanks to further first-half goals from Matt Derbyshire and Brett Emerton.

Derbyshire added his second after the break and squandering a couple of gilt-edged chances to complete his hat-trick.

Only Ryan Nelsen, Morten Gamst Pedersen and Aaron Mokoena remained from Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Hull, which meant a debut for striker Carlos Villanueva, on a season-long loan from Chilean side Audax Italiano, while star striker Roque Santa Cruz was named on the bench as a precaution.

Town manager Alan Buckley saw his side lose to Ince’s MK Dons side last year in both League Two encounters and also the final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, but delivered the first blow of this encounter when his side took a shock early lead.

Villanueva gave away a needless free-kick 25 yards out, and left-back Newey curled a beautiful shot beyond the fingertips of goalkeeper Jason Brown and into the net off the crossbar to the delight of the travelling contingent.

Rovers were looking understandably disjointed given the amount of upheaval in their team selection, although they showed great character to get back on level terms within 10 minutes.