Blackburn Rovers FC

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Allardyce: Referee to blame

21 Jan 2010 - 08:29:01

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Blackburn Rovers boss Sam Allardyce blamed referee Martin Atkinson for his side's failure to reach the Carling Cup Final.

Rovers lost a thrilling semi-final second leg 6-4 to Aston Villa on Wednesday night to miss out on a place at Wembley.

However, after seeing his side race into a 2-0 lead at Villa Park, Allardyce claimed the game's turning point was in the build up to Villa's first goal when Atkinson failed to spot a push on his captain Ryan Nelsen from Gabriel Agbonlahor.

"It's a bit difficult to take, scoring four goals and not getting through to the final," he said.

"We were in complete control of the game and if anybody is going to score to make it 3-0 it's us.

"But then the referee allows a blatant foul on Ryan Nelsen to go unpunished and at this level you have to make sure the referee gets those decisions right.

"We are out of a cup final because of that decision perhaps.

"Whatever anybody might say, we were put in a position we should not have been put in.

"It lifted the crowd, it lifted Villa because they were playing very poorly but then they are on their game."