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Blackburn sweat over Benni
26/11/2007 07:48 - (SA)
London - Blackburn face a nervous wait to see if Benni McCarthy faces a spell on the sidelines after the South Africa striker needed stitches for a knee gash during his side's 2-2 draw at Fulham.
McCarthy limped out of Sunday's match after eight minutes following a collision with Fulham defender Dejan Stefanovic that left him needing lengthy treatment.
The former Porto player's leg was heavily bandaged as he was led off the Craven Cottage pitch and Rovers boss Mark Hughes will be hoping his leading scorer is back in action quickly.
McCarthy has eight goals this season but Rovers managed to snatch a hard-fought draw in his absence.
They hit back twice as Danny Murphy's 51st minute penalty was cancelled out by Australia midfielder Brett Emerton six minutes later. Diomansy Kamara restored Fulham's advantage in the 63rd minute, only for Stephen Warnock to give Blackburn a share of the spoils with 11 minutes to play.
Hughes was impressed by Blackburn's spirit and said: "I didn't anticipate I'd lose Benni within minutes of the kick-off and it was difficult from that point on.
Reward
"But Jason Roberts came on and was a handful so for him to put in a performance like that was exceptional.
"I thought we kept on playing and trying to do the right things and we got our reward it the end.
"We thought it was a game we should have won and I think we totally dominated. In general play we were the most progressive team."
Hughes felt aggrieved by both of Fulham's goals, with Kamara's strike especially angering him.
"The second goal, when the initial ball was passed forward, the lad who scored was in an offside position," he said.
"In days gone by, when I played, that was stonewall offside but these days, with different phases and interference it becomes a lottery and that is the worry.
Squandering leads
"It is not easy for officials, in fairness and it has hurt us."
Fulham have developed a nasty habit of squandering leads late in matches and it cost them again.
This was the seventh time they've failed to protect an advantage this season, but, like Hughes, boss Lawrie Sanchez was more unhappy with the officials than his own team.
"I'm frustrated. To take the lead twice and still be in front late on in the match, you hope you will win," he said.
"We didn't help ourselves with our defending but we also had abysmal decisions go against us.
"They scored a goal that was clearly offside and we had two appeals for handballs in their area turned down."
- AFP
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