Rovers, City rue wasted chances

Blackburn boss Steve Kean lamented a missed opportunity after his side fought out a 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Birmingham.

Junior Hoilett capitalised on a defensive blunder from Liam Ridgewell to help Kean’s side claim a share of the spoils at Ewood Park, after Lee Bowyer gave the visitors the lead.

But with both sides just three points clear of the relegation zone, Kean conceded a win would have been handy to better their survival prospects.

“I wanted to take a big leap today but we’re taking little steps and we just have to keep chipping away,” Kean said.

“If all the teams around you pick up wins and you only get a point you’re massively disappointed.”

“But today we’re probably a little bit better off than when we started.”

“The atmosphere in the dressing room is really down but we will soon come to realise that this is a good point today.”

Birmingham boss Alex McLeish was also disappointed not to come away with three points, and the Scot was disappointed with Ridgewell’s error.

“We can’t afford to give those sorts of gifts away but we came back in the second half,” McLeish said.

“We really could have crumbled after that but we had our backs to the wall.”

“It was a bad moment for Liam but the next challenge for him was to see if he could recover from it and that’s what he did.”

McLeish’s side also had injury woes to contend with during the match, with centre back Roger Johnson forced off with concussion.

“Roger was a little bit groggy. He was desperate to go back on but I wasn’t going to compromise his health,” McLeish said.

“He’s far too important a player for me.”