Big Sam hails battling Rovers

Sam Allardyce paid tribute to the character of his Blackburn side following the 2-1 victory over Tottenham. Rovers fell behind in the 30th minute following a controversial penalty decision when Gael Givet was adjudged to have deliberately handled Aaron Lennon's cross.Spurs came close to doubling their advantage but Wilson Palacios was sent off late on, before goals from Benni McCarthy and Andre Ooijer turned the match in Blackburn's favour.Allardyce accepts that his players were not at their best but he was delighted with the manner in which they battled."(We showed) a bit of desire and a bit of determination to overcome a bit of adversity in the penalty decision," he told Sky Sports."We never said die and I don't think we have since I got here"It doesn't matter how you win as long as you win and this was probably one of our lesser performances."Samba praiseChristopher Samba played the second half as a striker after Blackburn lost a couple of players due to injury and Allardyce was thrilled with his performance.He said: "It is a great credit to the lads because, not just the penalty decision, but Morten (Gamst Pedersen) pulls a calf, Jason (Roberts) hobbles for the last 10 minutes of the first half and we throw Chris Samba up front "I thought he made a big difference and he caused their centre-halves a lot more problems in the second half."Allardyce believes that while Palacios may have been unlucky to get sent off, the refereeing decisions evened themselves out over the course of 90 minutes."I'm sure Tottenham will feel the sending off was a bit harsh," he said."When you look at both incidents, they probably feel the sending-off was harsh and we feel it wasn't a penalty.Allardyce added: "When you concede the first goal it is very rare you come back and win so we have got a very valuable three points"We have nicked a win and we are very happy indeed."

Source: SKY_Sports