Hughes hails new boys

Norwegian winger Morten Gamst Pedersen might have hogged the headlines after his second goal in eight days proved to be the winner at Fratton Park.

But Hughes was particularly keen to highlight the contributions of Mokoena and Nelsen, who performed magnificently on their Premiership debuts as Rovers overcame a raft of injuries and suspensions to pick up another vital three points on the road.

"We were a little bit worried going into the game having lost Lucas Neill, Dominic Matteo, Barry Ferguson and Flitty prior to it so there was a bit of trepidation there," said Hughes.

"But I have to say the lads who came in were fantastic. We had to weather a little bit of pressure towards the end, as you'd expect, but overall I thought we fully deserved the three points.

"Defensively, we were really sound. The two new lads came in and did very well at the back.

"That was only Aaron's second game for us and Ryan made his debut, out of position by the way, but they both did excellently, so I'm pleased with them and I think they're going to be good players for us. It looks a good bit of business."

Rovers went into the game looking for their first back-to-back Premiership wins of the season, having beaten Charlton 1-0 at home on their previous outing.

There was little to choose between either side in a tight contest until Pompey striker Lomana LuaLua suddenly had a rush of blood and pushed his head in the face of Andy Todd in the 51st minute, an act referee Andy D'Urso deemed worthy of a red card.

"I'm going to toe the party line and say I didn't see it but, in all honesty, I didn't," said Hughes.

"My staff and the lads on the line said Andy and their guy had a conversation, the lad then pushed his head towards Andy Todd and made contact, so that's clearly a sending off.

"The assistant referee saw it so he had to go."

LuaLua's dismissal proved the turning point as just four minutes later, Rovers broke the deadlock when Pedersen scored for the second consecutive weekend with a carbon copy of his finish at Cardiff in the FA Cup eight days previously.

"It was a good finish last week but I think today's was even better," enthused Hughes. "Morten has that ability to change his feet and draw the keeper out and flick it over him, so it was a great finish.

"He's had to be a little bit patient because, in the initial period, I didn't think he was strong enough, physically.

"But he's put in a lot of hard work over the last two or three months and he now looks bigger, faster and stronger and we're going to reap the benefits of that in the second half of the season, I'm sure."

The one blemish on an otherwise excellent afternoon for Hughes was the amount of bookings picked up by his players.

A total of six Blackburn players were cautioned and two from Portsmouth, not to mention the red cards for LuaLua and Amdy Faye, who was also dismissed in injury time.

Paul Dickov now faces a one-match ban after picking up his fifth booking of the season and Hughes was critical of D'Urso's overall handling of the game.

"I didn't think the game warranted the amount of disciplinary measures the referee thought he had to mete out," said the Rovers boss.

"When you give out yellow cards like that, it's always a danger that by the end of the game, they start to mount up and that was the case today unfortunately.

"But we kept our discipline and managed to keep 11 men on the pitch, which was important.

"I don't think I've ever seen six minutes (of injury time) on the board, either, so that was a first, too.

MARK Hughes was glowing in his praise of new signings Ryan Nelsen and Aaron Mokoena after the defensive duo played key roles in Blackburn Rovers' 1-0 victory at Portsmouth on Saturday.

Norwegian winger Morten Gamst Pedersen might have hogged the headlines after his second goal in eight days proved to be the winner at Fratton Park.

But Hughes was particularly keen to highlight the contributions of Mokoena and Nelsen, who performed magnificently on their Premiership debuts as Rovers overcame a raft of injuries and suspensions to pick up another vital three points on the road.

"We were a little bit worried going into the game having lost Lucas Neill, Dominic Matteo, Barry Ferguson and Flitty prior to it so there was a bit of trepidation there," said Hughes.

"But I have to say the lads who came in were fantastic. We had to weather a little bit of pressure towards the end, as you'd expect, but overall I thought we fully deserved the three points.

"Defensively, we were really sound. The two new lads came in and did very well at the back.

"That was only Aaron's second game for us and Ryan made his debut, out of position by the way, but they both did excellently, so I'm pleased with them and I think they're going to be good players for us. It looks a good bit of business."

Rovers went into the game looking for their first back-to-back Premiership wins of the season, having beaten Charlton 1-0 at home on their previous outing.

There was little to choose between either side in a tight contest until Pompey striker Lomana LuaLua suddenly had a rush of blood and pushed his head in the face of Andy Todd in the 51st minute, an act referee Andy D'Urso deemed worthy of a red card.

"I'm going to toe the party line and say I didn't see it but, in all honesty, I didn't," said Hughes.

"My staff and the lads on the line said Andy and their guy had a conversation, the lad then pushed his head towards Andy Todd and made contact, so that's clearly a sending off.

"The assistant referee saw it so he had to go."

LuaLua's dismissal proved the turning point as just four minutes later, Rovers broke the deadlock when Pedersen scored for the second consecutive weekend with a carbon copy of his finish at Cardiff in the FA Cup eight days previously.

"It was a good finish last week but I think today's was even better," enthused Hughes. "Morten has that ability to change his feet and draw the keeper out and flick it over him, so it was a great finish.

"He's had to be a little bit patient because, in the initial period, I didn't think he was strong enough, physically.

"But he's put in a lot of hard work over the last two or three months and he now looks bigger, faster and stronger and we're going to reap the benefits of that in the second half of the season, I'm sure."

The one blemish on an otherwise excellent afternoon for Hughes was the amount of bookings picked up by his players.

A total of six Blackburn players were cautioned and two from Portsmouth, not to mention the red cards for LuaLua and Amdy Faye, who was also dismissed in injury time.

Paul Dickov now faces a one-match ban after picking up his fifth booking of the season and Hughes was critical of D'Urso's overall handling of the game.

"I didn't think the game warranted the amount of disciplinary measures the referee thought he had to mete out," said the Rovers boss.

"When you give out yellow cards like that, it's always a danger that by the end of the game, they start to mount up and that was the case today unfortunately.

"But we kept our discipline and managed to keep 11 men on the pitch, which was important.

"I don't think I've ever seen six minutes (of injury time) on the board, either, so that was a first, too.