Blackburn Rovers Football Club News

• Nickname:Rovers
• Founded:1875
• Manager:Steve Kean

• Ground:Ewood Park
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Hughes rues McCarthy ban

17 Dec 2006 - 14:07:35

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Blackburn Rovers boss Mark Hughes was left frustrated after seeing striker Benni McCarthy pick up a fifth booking of the season in the 2-1 victory at Reading.

McCarthy was cautioned for sarcastically rolling the ball at the assistant referee after heading home the equaliser, having earlier had three goals chalked off by correct offside flags.

As a consequence, he will miss next weekend's clash with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

Hughes fumed: "I was a little bit disappointed with the yellow card, it wasn't done with any malice. He was trying to make a point.

"It wasn't as if he aggressively threw the ball at the assistant - he just rolled it towards him to acknowledge we'd got a goal that actually counted. He was frustrated.

"It's doubly frustrating because he will miss the Arsenal match. He's a striker and had three goals chalked off, so his reaction was understandable."

Hughes continued to praise McCarthy, who has scored nine goals in 24 games since joining Rovers in the summer from FC Porto.

"Benni is a very clever, intelligent footballer," the Welshman added. "He's always looking to create a little bit of space.

"On occasions he gets caught offside, but when he gets it right he'll be in the correct area to score goals.

"He has great technical ability and is a natural goalscorer and has the ability to get 20 goals."