Soccer

Allardyce works magic as Rovers cruise

Blackburn 3 Stoke 0: Sam Allardyce enjoyed a memorable first day at the office at Ewood Park as his new side recorded a remarkable…

Sat Dec 20 2008 - 00:00

Blackburn 3 Stoke 0:Sam Allardyce enjoyed a memorable first day at the office at Ewood Park as his new side recorded a remarkable victory that was all wrapped up inside half an hour.

Benni McCarthy gave them the ideal start when drilled home a ninth-minute penalty after Morten Gamst Pedersen was felled by Ibrahima Sonko.

Jason Roberts stabbed home another nine minutes later before McCarthy added his second in the 27th minute and was denied a  hat-trick by a post after the interval.

McCarthy had not been due to start, only coming into the side when Roque Santa Cruz was ruled out this morning after picking up a calf injury in training on Friday.

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And Allardyce has promised to swiftly deal with Santa Cruz after the striker revealed he would like a move to a "better club".

The Paraguay international's comments cast a shadow over Blackburn's first win since September 27th.

But the former Bolton boss, who only signed a three-year contract to replace the sacked Paul Ince on Wednesday, said he would not let it affect his celebrations.

"Did it bother me today? No. Is it going to affect my night out? No. Will it bother me tomorrow? Yes," said Allardyce.

"I will sit down and see what the situation is. We will deal with it professionally very quickly."

All season Santa Cruz has been linked with a move to Manchester City to be reunited with Mark Hughes, the man who signed him for Rovers last season.

Allardyce was asked whether he would consider selling the former Bayern Munich striker, valued at between €16-21million.

"I have no idea. You keep asking me questions I don't want to answer now because I want to have a good night out," he said.

"Roque Santa Cruz is not a key focus for me tonight. The players and their performance and the fact we have got three points on the board and have done very well is the most important thing."

Yesterday Santa Cruz told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I would really like to keep improving and performing better than I am doing right now.

"And if a better or an ambitious club come in and want to offer me the chance I would like to take it.

"I am looking to again play in a big side that is in Europe and trying to win their league."