PRE-SEASON ROUND-UP: Blackburn Rovers tired and tested while Aston Villa slump to Bohemians defeat

26 July 2010 00:28
A jet-lagged Blackburn Rovers lost their opening pre-season friendly in Australia after going down to a 2-1 defeat to Rangers. [LNB]Sam Allardyce's side only arrived Down Under just 33 hours before the start of the Sydney Festival of Football yesterday.[LNB] And it showed as they went a goal down after just seven minutes. United States midfielder Edu headed in for Rangers from Steven Davis's free-kick in only the 10th minute as Blackburn struggled to cope with the pace of the match. [LNB] On target: Rangers' Maurice Edu (left) celebrates his goal with Lee McCulloch[LNB]The Scottish Premier League champions made it 2-0 just before half-time when Kenny Miller blasted into the roof of the net. Rangers won a penalty almost immediately after the break when Grant Hanley brought down Edu but Miller's spot-kick rebounded off the crossbar. [LNB]Blackburn pulled one back through a David Dunn penalty after Junior Hoilett fell under Madjid Bougherra's challenge. [LNB]A Brad Friedel error proved costly for Aston Villa in their 2-1 defeat to Irish side Bohemians. The goalkeeper's miscued clearance fell to Conor Powell, who lobbed the American for an easy opener.[LNB] John Carew equalised for Martin O'Neill's men but Paddy Madden notched the winner with 10 minutes to go. [LNB] Ouch: Jermaine Beckford winces with pain after he catches the foot of Preston's Adam Barton in Everton's 3-0 pre-season friendly win[LNB]Birmingham City made it three wins out of three on their China and Hong Kong tour with a 2-0 win over Liaoning Hongyun. Garry O'Connor and Sebastian Larsson both got on the scoresheet. [LNB]Everton manager David Moyes has played down Jermaine Beckford's injury after he limped out of his side's 3-0 win over Preston. Beckford scored twice for his new club and Louis Saha bagged the other. [LNB]On Beckford's injury, Moyes said: 'It is nothing to worry about. He will probably be back in training tomorrow.' [LNB] Aston Villa and Celtic on alert as Harry Redknapp hints Robbie Keane might need to leave Tottenham Hotspur Everton will break the bank to keep Arteta out of Manchester City's handsMcLeish boost for Birmingham: Boss expected to extend stay at St Andrew's[LNB]  

Source: Daily_Mail