BLACKBURN midfielder Robbie Savage thought he had broken his leg again when he got pole-axed by a meaty challenge from Richard Dunne during yesterday's 1-0 victory over Manchester City.

Savage, who only recently returned to full fitness after sustaining a broken leg against Watford in January, thought he had suffered a reoccurrence of the injury when Dunne caught him with a crunching tackle in the third minute.

But, thankfully, a scan later confirmed the Welshman had only suffered severe bruising to his right leg, and he should be fit in time to face Chelsea in a fortnight's time.

Reflecting on the challenge, a relieved Savage said: "It was like being hit by a Blackpool tram!

"I didn't see him coming and I don't know how you can miss him, really.

"But when he hit me, I thought I'd been hit by a tram.

"It was a good tackle to be fair to him, and I like doing those myself, which is why I got straight up again.

"But I've since seen the replays and when he challenged me, my right foot got stuck in the ground and he caught me on the part where I broke it last time.

"At first, I thought I'd broken it again.

"I tried to carry on but couldn't. However, I've since been for an X-ray and that was clear. They said it's swollen and badly bruised but there's no long-term damage, which is a relief."

After Savage limped off injured, Rovers then suffered a further blow when his replacement, Tugay, got sent off early in the second half for a second bookable offence.

But Mark Hughes' 10-men showed tremendous fighting spirit to see off a determined City side, who were reduced to 10-men themselves shortly afterwards when Dunne got dismissed for a foul on Roque Santa Cruz, thus extending their unbeaten run to 14 matches, an impressive sequence that stretches back to last season.

"It's a great start for the boys," added Savage.

"We are unbeaten in 14 games now since we lost to Chelsea in the FA Cup last season, so everyone is on a high.

"Maybe it's time people started talking about Blackburn.

Everyone has been talking about Manchester City and no-one has mentioned Blackburn.

"But I think this proves we are a good team, and it's about time we got some credit.