Blackburn are inspired

Blackburn ... 3 Aston Villa ... 0  It is no secret that Blackburn Rovers would willingly exchange their League Cup triumph for a Premiership place next season, but last night there were signs that they might be capable of having both.

By overcoming a hugely disappointing Aston Villa side, courtesy of David Dunn's early goal and strikes in the last five minutes from Damien Duff and Andy Cole, Graeme Souness's team inspired a new wave of optimism inside Ewood Park.

In the seventh minute Dunn, whose mere presence should enhance Blackburn's survival aspirations, rewarded their early superiority with a quite exceptional goal, his first since December 22nd.

There was little on when Hakan Unsal picked out the gifted England Under-21 midfielder with a long cross-field pass to the right flank. But with a deceptive change of pace Dunn turned infield, evading Jlloyd Samuel and, with his supposedly weaker left foot, lashed a venomous shot past Peter Schmeichel from the edge of the penalty area.

Cole had already hooked a volley against the crossbar after Dunn's corner had been headed on by Henning Berg, and as Blackburn strove to extend their lead the former Manchester United forward prodded the ball beyond Schmeichel from Dunn's superb pass only to see it come back off the goalkeeper's right-hand post.

At that stage Villa's goal was living a charmed existence and never more so than when, just after the half-hour, Duff swung over a left-wing cross that ricocheted off Mark Delaney, requiring Schmeichel to claw the ball from under his crossbar, agains t the post and out.

Devoid of inspiration, Villa's solitary chance in the first half was a Darius Vassell shot that drew a fine save from Brad Friedel, and Taylor responded at the interval by replacing the ineffective Thomas Hitzlsperger and Moustapha Hadji with Paul Merson and Lee Hendrie.

It worked in the sense that Villa, a team of lofty ambitions yet limited ability, had much more possession in the second half against opponents now employing a more conservative approach.

Guardian Service

BLACKBURN: Friedel, Neill, Berg, Johansson, Unsal (Taylor 57), Dunn, Tugay (Gillespie 65), Flitcroft, Duff, Cole, Jansen (Yordi 60). Subs not used: Hignett, Miller. Booked: Unsal. Goals: Dunn 7, Duff 85, Cole 89.

ASTON VILLA: Schmeichel, Delaney, Mellberg, Staunton, Samuel, Barry, Boateng, Hitzlsperger (Hendrie 45), Hadji (Merson 45), Vassell, Angel (Balaban 72). Subs not used: Kachloul, Enckelman. Booked: Boateng, Delaney.

Referee: S Bennett (Kent)