BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness today warned his players that he will no longer tolerate the kind of elementary mistakes which cost his side two points at Maine Road on Sunday.0

Souness is still angry at the way his team allowed Manchester City to snatch a point from a game they appeared to have won.

And he has made it clear in no uncertain terms that he will not put up with a similar type of performance against CSKA Sofia tomorrow as Rovers prepare to return to Europe after a four year absence.

"The players are still frustrated after Sunday and so am I," said Souness.

"I've watched that game again on TV and it looked even worse the second time around.

"We should be sitting with at least six more points than we've got, we should be undefeated, and we should be saying what a really good start to the season we've had.

"We know where we are not strong, which is defensively because we commit so many people forward, but that wasn't the case against City.

"Sunday was a case of just being stupid in too many vital areas at vital times in a game that was won.

"When a team goes down to 10 men we should have kept the ball, stopped the game from flowing, and killed them off.

"But, hopefully, we'll learn from that and the lads who played in it and the lads who came on as subs can look at it and think 'if only we had that time again.'

"They will get the opportunities again, and they will find themselves in that situation again and, hopefully, they will learn from those mistakes."

Souness knows a decent result against CSKA tomorrow would do much to repair Rovers' damaged confidence.

But, with Damien Duff and Andy Cole both sure to be missing through injury, he knows his patched up team will have their work cut out if they want to go to Sofia in a fortnight's time with a first leg advantage.

"Our scouts have seen them twice recently and the reports we've had suggest they are a good team," said Souness.

"There will be no surprises. They will come here and try to sit in and defend and nick something.

"It's a blow that we won't have Damien or Andy Cole but that gives other people an opportunity to show what they can do."

That could mean Ciccio Grabbi is in line for his first start of the season after scans revealed Cole has suffered some hamstring damage.

As yet, Souness is not sure how long his star striker could be sidelined for but he will play no part tomorrow.

Meanwhile, if Rovers are to progress through to round two then it's crucial that they capitalise on home advantage.

But Souness insists whatever happens in the first leg will have little bearing on how he approaches the second game.

"We are not a team who can sit in and try and defend something in Sofia," added the Rovers boss.

"Okay, if we were to find ourselves in front going there, we wouldn't be gung-ho.

"But we are certainly not the type of team who can go and sit in and try and get a 0-0."