BLACKBURN Rovers came crashing down to earth with a boing' as Mark Hughes had sand kicked in his face by a former colleague for the second time in a matter of days.

After the euphoria of Wednesday night's intoxicating victory over Manchester United, this was the inevitable hangover.

How can a team who put four goals past United in midweek, then look so toothless against a side that is battling to stay in the Premier League?

Hughes had only just recovered from the shock of being verbally savaged by his friend and mentor Sir Alex Ferguson when Bryan Robson, another close pal from his days at Old Trafford, decided to twist the knife by undermining Rovers' attempts to qualify for Europe.

With friends like these, who needs enemies?

This was a golden opportunity for Rovers to apply some pressure on the teams above in the scramble for European places, but they blew their big chance after they allowed themselves to be out-muscled' by Robson's boing boing' Baggies.

From the moment Kevin Campbell celebrated his 36th birthday with a fine goal in the sixth minute, you got the sense this was never going to be Rovers' day and so it proved as Jonathan Greening then capitalised on more flimsy defending to fire his side into an unassailable first half lead.

It was a disappointing conclusion to a bizarre week that has seen Hughes go through the full spectrum of emotions.

First, there was the limp FA Cup exit at the hands of West Ham, then came the high of that incredible victory against United, when Rovers did the double over their old adversaries for the first time in 75 years.

But the feel-good factor that result created soon ebbed away as Rovers' six-game unbeaten run in the Premiership came shuddering to a halt at The Hawthorns.

Hughes later refused to make any excuses for what he considered to be a below-par performance.

"We didn't come out and display any urgency in our play," said the Rovers boss.

"We tried to ease ourselves into the game and maybe that was a consequence of our efforts on Wednesday.

"But I think that's too easy an excuse to make. We just started sloppily and found ourselves 2-0 down and, from then on, we couldn't get back into the game."

This was a damaging defeat for Rovers in their pursuit of a top six finish, but maybe not as potentially damaging as those remarks made by Ferguson in the wake of his side's defeat at Ewood last week.

The United boss reopened the old bully boy' debate with his scathing comments about Rovers' physical style and, regardless of how misguided those opinions might have been, Hughes and his players know from past experience that mud sticks, particularly when it's flung by one of the Premiership's more high-profile managers.

As a result, Hughes found himself having to answer questions about Rovers' aggressive style once again during his post-match press conference when, in reality, it was Albion who proved more adept at flexing their muscles on this occasion.

Anticipating a physical encounter, Robson sent for the heavy mob in the shape of Campbell and Geoff Horsfield and West Brom's twin towers laid the foundations for their side's victory.

Three days earlier, Andy Todd and Ryan Nelsen had worked wonders in blunting the threat of Wayne Rooney, but they struggled here against Campbell and Horsfield, two old-fashioned centre forwards who rely more on brawn than brain.

The battle for territory in midfield was also won by Albion, with Greening and Nigel Quashie, who was making his debut after signing from Southampton, at the hub of most of their best work.

David Bentley, Rovers' hat-trick hero against United, was the visitors' only bright spark, but he was a lone beacon in a sea of mediocrity and his clever probing and prompting ultimately came to nothing in the end.

The signs looked ominous for Rovers when Greening carved out a chance for Campbell after just six minutes, but the West Brom skipper drilled his effort wide of the near post when it looked easier to score.

Within 30 seconds, however, the former Everton striker redeemed himself with an exquisite finish to put Albion ahead.

Junichi Inamoto delivered a raking cross from the right, which he floated perfectly into the space behind Todd, and Campbell was onto it like a flash, taming the ball with his first touch before firing emphatically past Brad Friedel.

With Rovers at sixes and sevens at the back, Friedel then came to the rescue with a sharp save to deny Greening.

And another slack piece of play from Tugay, who carelessly lost the ball in midfield, almost led to a goal for Inamoto, but the Japanese international screwed his effort wide from the edge of the box.

In contrast to some of their defending, Rovers did, fleetingly, look menacing on the break and it took a great defensive block to deny Reid, before Tomasz Kuszczak, the Albion keeper, then made his first meaningful save of the day, the Pole showing great athleticism to palm aside Morten Gamst Pedersen's dipping free kick.

But, just when it looked like Rovers were about to force their way back into the game, Albion struck again in the 32nd minute.

Michael Gray's sliced clearance bounced awkwardly on the edge of the area and, as Tugay fatally hesitated, Greening seized his chance, cleverly working a yard of space for himself before dispatching a wonderful shot that flew high into Friedel's top right hand corner.

Rovers had plenty of possession in the second half but rarely looked like doing anything with it.

Robbie Savage just failed to get a decisive touch on a Steven Reid cross, then Nelsen headed wide from Sergio Peter's free kick.

Rovers should also have had a penalty when Neil Clement handled in the area, but referee Chris Foy waved away their muted protests.

Even the introduction of Florent Sinama Pongolle, who made his debut as a second half replacement for the ineffective Shefki Kuqi, failed to spark Rovers into life and they looked well beaten in the end.