Source: SKY_Sports
Woe for Blank-burn
Paul Merson believes Blackburn might end up paying the ultimate price for not taking their chances against West Ham.[LNB] Sam Allardyce's men dominated a lively encounter at Ewood Park but were forced to settle for a point thanks to Keith Andrews' second-half strike.[LNB]It was, couple with Newcastle's home defeat by Arsenal, enough to keep Rovers out of the relegation places, but Merson was left worried this game might come back to haunt them.[LNB]"They had so many chances I don't think they will get that many chances until the end of the season, so it was two points dropped. Definitely," he told Soccer Saturday.[LNB]"Sam Allardyce will be gutted. Jason Roberts had a couple of chances, Benni McCarthy did, but they weren't missed, it was just unbelievable blocking. [LNB]"You never thought they should've scored, there was just some outstanding blocking going on. The defending was just phenomenal and it was as good as I've seen this season.[LNB]Shocking"They've got some hard games coming up and I worry for them. They've got Liverpool, Stoke, Man City and Chelsea away. [LNB]"But along the way to the end of the season there are going to be two absolutely shocking results somewhere along the line so they have just got to hope they get one of those shock results.[LNB]"But I'd be surprised if they get as many chances as that in another game."[LNB]Merson though, did have some praise for West Ham.[LNB]Ravaged by injuries and absentees but with nothing really to play for, Gianfranco Zola's patched-up side were under pressure for large periods once Mark Noble had fired them in front 10 minutes before the break.[LNB]OutstandingBut with former Rover Lucas Neill at the fore, they held firm and claimed an unlikely away point to further underline their growing durability.[LNB]"They had Lucas Neill at centre-half, so it was a strong, hard defence today," said Merson.[LNB]"He was outstanding, diving in front of balls and West Ham are a dangerous team to play at the moment because they can't go down, they can't really go anywhere so they just left three players up the field.[LNB]"The two wingers stayed up and both the full-backs were bombing on and overlapping and Blackburn were just letting them do it."[LNB]
