ROVERS boss Graeme Souness today warned his players they must pick themselves up quickly following the agony of last night's FA Cup exit at the hands of struggling Sunderland.

Rovers crashed out of the competition after losing their fourth round replay following a dramatic penalty shoot-out at the Stadium of Light.

But Souness insists his shattered troops can't afford to feel sorry for themselves with Southampton set to visit Ewood for a vital Premiership encounter in less than 48 hours' time.

"It's no secret that our form in the last three games has not been what it was prior to that," said Souness.

"We'd had a good season up until the last three games and now we've got to get it back on track as soon as possible, starting with the game against Southampton on Saturday.

"So we've got to pick ourselves up - that's what this game is all about.

"It kicks you, it hurts, but it can only hurt overnight. We've got to be ready to roll again for the weekend."

After the original tie had ended in a six-goal thriller at Ewood 10 days ago, few expected the replay to match that in terms of drama and excitement.

But that's exactly what happened as Rovers twice fought back from the dead courtesy of two second half equalisers from skipper Garry Flitcroft which forced the tie into extra-time.

However, when a further half hour failed to separate the two sides, Souness was then forced to endure the agony of penalties.

Kevin Phillips and Kevin Kilbane both scored for Sunderland while David Thompson missed the target completely and Andy Cole and Ciccio Grabbi then saw the efforts saved by Thomas Sorensen.

So it was left to Gavin McCann to tuck away the match-winning spot-kick which earned the Black Cats a home tie against Watford in the fifth round.

"You either score them or you don't and we didn't score so of course our penalties could have been better," said Souness. "But that's what the FA Cup is all about. It 's sudden death and we lost on penalties.

"The two games have been exciting cup ties but obviously one team has to go out and unfortunately it was us. It was a real blood and guts cup tie and maybe the quality wasn't great at times but the pitch probably had something to do with that.

"I thought we started alright until they got their goal and that then gave them a lift. But in the second half I felt we improved, we got ourselves back into the game, and I suppose you would say it was exciting, although you never like to lose.

"So it's the worst case scenario for us. Playing extra time and then losing out on penalties is not ideal with a tough game against Southampton coming up.

"But the overriding feeling I have is we've just been knocked out of the Cup.

"The FA Cup is a great competition to be in but now we are not in it and we'll just have to concentrate on doing our best in the championship."

Defender Martin Taylor summed up the feeling in the dressing room when he added: "Obviously, all the lads are very disappointed at going out of the FA Cup, especially on penalties.

"I thought we picked up in the second half and started to create chances and we did have several opportunities to win it in the end, as did Sunderland as well.

"But at least we are starting to create chances again which is one positive thing."

In the meantime, Souness must survey his walking wounded in the next 24 hours before finalising his plans for the weekend.

Craig Short and Damien Duff have a chance of returning but the manager will monitor the fitness of Henning Berg and Brad Friedel who both came through trying circumstances last night.