Allardyce Wants Ruthless Rovers

Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce has warned his side they must start making the most of their chances or pay the ultimate price in their Premier League survival battle.Rovers missed the chance to put more daylight between themselves and the drop zone after failing to convert their dominance into three points against West Ham in a gritty 1-1 draw at Ewood Park.And they needed second-half substitute Keith Andrews to salvage a point after Mark Noble had put the Hammers ahead in the 35th minute with a strike Allardyce insisted should have been ruled out for offside.El-Hadji Diouf had two efforts ruled out for offside himself while Benni McCarthy, Jason Roberts and Morten Gamst Pedersen all missed great chances to win it for the home side in a one-sided second half.Allardyce admitted: "We can take a lot of encouragement from that performance but we must start converting our draws into wins. We are in good shape based on performances, but not results."It's another point towards what we want to achieve but games are slipping away and opportunities to win games must be taken. We haven't taken it and that has proved one of our Achilles heels this season."You don't want that to cost you at the end of the season. But we can only continue to play the way that we are and the players have given their maximum today, and I can't say more than that."Rovers had the better early chances before Noble lashed home the opener in the 35th minute with a fine right-foot shot from the right, but Allardyce felt the goal should have been chalked off because Luis Boa Morte was in an offside position.Allardyce added: "We had two goals disallowed for offside - they were offside - but unfortunately West Ham's goal was also offside and it wasn't given so it's very, very disappointing that we haven't won."Rovers almost grabbed an equaliser in the 50th minute when Roberts drove a goalbound effort against the legs of James Tomkins - but they only had to wait one more minute for the equaliser.Pedersen's long throw caused havoc in the hammers box and the ball sprung loose to Andrews - on at half-time for the injured Andre Ooijer - who fired home confidently from a tight angle.Pedersen crashed a shot wide and McCarthy saw an effort blocked on the goal-line from point-blank range as the Hammers defenders worked overtime to continue their recent good form under boss Gianfranco Zola.Now Zola insists his side must push on with the target of securing a place in next season's new UEFA Europa League which Zola insists is a prize worth taking despite concerns over fixture congestion.Zola said: "It will be a nice problem to have so I wish we can have that problem next year. I know from playing in Europe it is always a great thing and we will be trying everything we can this year to achieve that."Zola's cause was boosted by the latest return from injury of Keiron Dyer, who played the last 10 minutes and is now expected to recover fully for the Hammers' next Premier League fixture in a fortnight's time."He is brilliant," added Zola. "I'm very pleased for him. He's a player who can make a big difference especially in a game like this. Today he's been on for 10 minutes, and maybe next time he can play for longer."

Source: Eurosport