MENTION Alan McLoughlin and cup ties and you can almost guarantee feelings of uneasiness spreading among Blackburn Rovers supporters.

Such are the wide-ranging options available to Portsmouth manager Alan Ball, he might even feel he can afford to ponder leaving the attacking midfielder out of his plans for tonight's Fratton Park Worthington Cup tie.

He is likely to take some part, however, as Portsmouth seek an advantage to bring North next week.

Having been on the receiving end of McLoughlin's goal-scoring flair back in January 1994, Rovers have long had great respect for the 32-year-old Republic of Ireland stalwart.

They met Pompey in the FA Cup at Ewood that year, drew 3-3 with McLoughlin grabbing a hat-trick, and then triumphed 3-1 in the Fratton replay. But McLoughlin was not to be denied another goal.

Arguably at his peak in those days, it seems he has lost few, if any, of his powers.

For the Opta statistics, provided exclusively for the Nationwide Football League, underline how well McLoughlin has done, compared with Rovers midfielder Lee Carsley, even though he has also made a good start to the season.

The Pompey man is either better or Carsley's equal as far as passing and dribbling are concerned and he even outshines the tough-guy Ewood star in his defending, which will surprise some people.

McLoughlin's 84 per cent success rate from his 300 passes so far this season is outstanding, because Carlsey's isn't bad at 74 per cent. Both men score 75 per cent completion for their dribbles, though McLoughlin has made eight to Carsley's four and, while the Rovers man has the edge on crossing at 33 per cent to 27 per cent, it should be noted that McLoughlin has attempted 22 compared to three.

Strangely, given their past records, McLoughlin lags behind Carsley in attacking terms - still looking for his first goal and with only one shot on target, compared to Carsley's two goals.

Yet, in defensive action, the Pompey midfielder comes out on top.

He has won 47 per cent of his tackles (39 per cent for Carsley) and made 26 (14) clearances and seven (four) interceptions.

The figures underline the all-round strength of McLoughlin's game. Carsley is unlikely to be around tonight but McLoughlin could well cause Rovers problems at both ends of the pitch.

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