ROY Hodgson is facing up to the prospect of a battle for the consolation prize of second place in the Premiership, after the weekend's games left Manchester United looking down at the rest from a distance.

The Blackburn Rovers boss will not throw in the towel after only his team's third defeat of the season at Derby yesterday.

But, realistically, it would take a dramatic turnaround in fortunes for anyone to prevent United winning their fifth Premier League title in six seasons.

Hodgson acknowledged the significance to the championship race of a game Rovers should at least have drawn.

"It affects it quite considerably because it means Manchester United's lead has been increased further," he said. "They have a very healthy margin now, going into the new year with 16 matches to play."

And, while he also pointed to the fact that both Rovers and Newcastle have seen large leads whittled away in recent years, United are in a powerful position.

"I am not suggesting for one minute that Manchester United are going to let that happen. They probably will not but, while hope exists, we shall continue to live in hope," he explained.

"Manchester United have done very well, taken the supremacy and look as though they are invincible. But it's been said before. "I'm pretty sure that Ferguson and his men will be aware they can get beaten. You don't always get beaten because you play badly, sometimes you get beaten through circumstances.

"I think the top six spots are worth so much.

"We are up there and we are desperate not to fall out of that spot initially.

"I am pretty sure as we come into the final rounds of the league that it is going to be very interesting to see how far the second team is from the third, fourth and fifth teams.

"That's an interesting battle at the moment which is quite tight.

"We see the defeat more in terms of dis-satisfaction with our performance rather than dis-satisfaction with the league table."

Rovers should certainly not have been beaten by Derby but Hodgson added: "The game's about winning, the game's about points and that's one thing they certainly do at Pride Park.

"They remain unbeaten and the game is not about beauty prizes or statistics - who had the most shots, the most corners, who had the most possession - the game is about who scores the most goals.

"We got one, they got three, ipso facto we're out of it. "We were quite determined in our attacking play, quite inventive and we knew that it would be difficult to draw them out.

"Had they had more attacks, we would have found a bit more space. We were always attacking into well-populated areas as you would at home.

"But I think the top teams in the league sometimes have to accept that.

"Jim was missing one or two of his players and no doubt he thought that was the best tactic to win the game and it was proven right.

"I don't think we lost the game because we played badly. I think we lost the game because we conceded two bad goals and you can put that down to bad play or a little bit of bad luck.

"But I thought we should have prevented those two goals and come away with at least a point."

Back-up keeper Alan Fettis had to be left out of the squad after sustaining a back injury during training.

Rovers A lost 2-1 at home to Manchester City, Graham Cassin scoring their goal. The B team won 3-1 at City, with David Dunn, Craig Woodfield and Gary Hamilton on target.

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