OUTRAGED fans have called for action after a pregnant Blackburn Rovers supporter was pushed to the ground when trouble flared following the team's 2-0 defeat by Manchester City.

Six months pregnant Pamela Kerans, 21, of Manchester Road, Baxenden, was pushed aside by a City fan minutes after she had left the Maine Road stadium on Saturday.

Pauline Perkins, secretary of the Blackburn Rovers Supporters Association, has included the incident in a report she has drawn up of trouble experienced by fans after the game.

Mrs Kerans' friend was also attacked by the same man who grabbed hold of her hair, swore at her, and told her to get out of the way.

Mrs Kerans said: "The man just grabbed hold of my hand and then shoved me.

"I couldn't believe we'd been let out of the ground into 30,000 City fans to start with, but for that to happen to somebody who is six months pregnant is disgusting."

Mrs Perkins herself was jostled by two or three City fans and says women in particular seemed to be the main target of the thugs.

During the game, Rovers fans were told to stay in their seats after the game finished, which Mrs Perkins said most people did.

But soon after the end of the game, she said the gates at the back of the North Stand, where Rovers fans were sitting, were opened, leading people to believe it was safe to leave.

Mrs Perkins said: "City supporters were moving among us pushing and chanting, but then we were confronted by the fans coming in the opposite direction from Platt Lane End. "To say it was frightening would be an understatement.

"I believe a small boy, a City supporter, had been knocked to the ground and some Rovers fans had taken care of him and got him back on his feet. "

Mrs Perkins has sent a letter to Greater Manchester Police, Manchester City FC and Rovers, explaining what happened.

A Greater Manchester Police spokesman confirmed that Rovers fans had reported what had happened but said that a public announcement at the ground had asked Rovers fans to stay behind until Manchester City fans had left.

Manchester City's ground safety officer Peter Fletcher said: "Towards the end of the game, after the second goal, a number of Rovers fans wanted to leave.

"This kind of situation always presents a dilemma. We really have to open the gates bearing in mind the kind of situations which have cropped up in the past when gates have not been opened at football grounds.

"Generally the conduct of both Blackburn and City fans was very good although we are sorry to hear about these isolated incidents."

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