Hughes happy with Rovers progress

Blackburn Rovers manager Mark Hughes believes his side are ahead of target after their first three matches.



Hughes' side were denied victory at Everton on Saturday by a late James McFadden strike but lie ninth after three matches with a match in hand on the majority of the table.

Hughes said: "We have started badly and still ended up in the top half in previous seasons, so if we can keep things going now, that could be crucial at the end of the season."

ground running

"We break the season up into different phases and for the first one we are ahead of things at the moment. Physically it is hard and performance-wise we weren't quite up to speed in those first few games. But when the Premier League started, we knew we could hit the ground running."

Hughes is also pleased with the partnership Benni McCarthy and Roque Santa Cruz have formed and was impressed with the pair against Everton.

"I thought they did very well," he told the club's official website. "I thought they caused Everton a problem because Benni was dropping into those little pockets of space in behind their midfield and linking the play, and I thought it worked quite well."

Santa Cruz gave Blackburn a half-time lead at Goodison Park.

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