BLACKBURN Rovers have been unwittingly caught up in the debate about extending the Premiership season beyond May 11.

Rovers' rearranged game against Middlesbrough, due to be played on Wednesday week, April 16, has had to be postponed because of the Coca-Cola Cup final replay.

And Boro are faced with a fixture pile-up similar to that facing Manchester United, which led to Alex Ferguson's plea for an extension.

Rovers are free between the matches against Southampton and Leicester, but Boro's midweek diary is full at the moment.

Ferguson received some sympathy for his plight from George Graham, manager of Leeds, Rovers' opponents tonight.

"It has always been the case that the more success a team has the worse the fixture congestion gets," said Graham. "That is the price British teams pay for success."

Rovers, however, will have little sympathy for Boro's plight - which could get worse if they draw Sunday's FA Cup semi-final - as they remain convinced the game should have been staged on its original date of December 21.

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