CHRIS Sutton defiantly hit back at his critics today and told them - I was just doing my best for Blackburn Rovers, writes PETER WHITE.

And the £5 million striker was given 100 per cent backing from his Ewood team-mates who, unprompted, publicly declared their support for him.

Sutton was at the centre of a controversial incident in stoppage time at Arsenal on Saturday and it led, indirectly, to a Rovers equaliser.

He chased Nigel Winterburn after Rovers had thrown the ball to Arsenal, following an injury to one of their players, and won the corner from which Garry Flitcroft scored.

But Sutton shrugged off the abuse and criticism he had to take from the Arsenal players, the crowd and other quarters such as BBC's Match of the Day.

"I am not saying I was right to do it, but anyone who calls me a cheat or a bad sport should also look at the diving around the box or going over the top," said Sutton.

"And what about time-wasting? Winterburn went towards the corner flag and was stood there trying to waste time.

"It's a fine line when you talk about sportsmanship.

"I thought it was fair game to go for that ball. I felt they were wasting time and had been doing so for a while. But that doesn't get noticed

"He could have knocked it down the line or even back to the keeper, but he went to the corner.

"Although I am not saying it was right, I am certainly not apologising for it. If they had defended the corner properly, Garry Flitcroft might not have scored.

"But because he produced a great finish, everyone talks about it. All I was trying to do was my best for Blackburn Rovers to get a result. "People can say what they like about me.

"But we are in a dogfight, battling to stay in the Premiership.

"Some might say it wasn't in the spirit of the game but there were a lot of things on Saturday which weren't in the spirit and we didn't have a lot of them going for us."

And his team-mates backed him.

Colin Hendry, speaking on behalf of the players, said: "We are behind Chris on this and that goes for us all.

"In the circumstances of the game we have no qualms about anything he did. Any one of us might have done the same thing."

Rovers caretaker-boss Tony Parkes was also concerned today that some of his post-match comments about Sutton's actions had been taken out of context.

"I was just trying to make the situation light-hearted," he said.

"One report on text claimed I had slammed Chris as being silly and simple for what he did and he is upset about how it has appeared.

"But he knows me. I was trying to be jocular and take some of the heat off him but it has been misconstrued.

"I have spoken to him to explain what was meant and I suppose I have to take some responsibility for a bad choice of words.

"It was said in a funny way but the way it has come out has made Chris look a bit silly and I'm sorry about that."

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