BLACKBURN Rovers have it all to do in the second half of this third round FA Cup tie after a deflected strike from Michael Mifsud gave Coventry a shock half-time lead.

The Maltese striker, who scored twice to knock Manchester United out of the Carling Cup earlier in the season, struck in the 34th minute, his shot looping off a defender and over a stranded Brad Friedel.

After a busy Christmas schedule, Rovers boss Mark Hughes took the opportunity to give Irish winger Keith Treacy his full debut on the left-hand side of midfield, and there was also a first domestic start for Maceo Rigters too, in a Rovers side that contained four changes from the team that beat Sunderland 1-0 at Ewood in midweek.

Rovers started brightly enough, the lively David Bentley testing Coventry keeper Dimi Konstantopoulos with a dipping free kick from the edge of the area.

Then some slick one-touch football led to another chance for Rigters, but the Dutchman's header drifted harmlessly wide of the far post.

The deadlock should have been broken in the 29th minute, when Benni McCarthy suddenly found himself one-on-one with Konstantopoulos.

However, the South African opted for power rather than placement and the City keeper comfortably repelled his shot.

In between those chances, Mifsud showed his appetite for the big occasion when he forced Friedel into a sharp save at his near post following a neat flick from Leon Best.

However, Rovers failed to heed that warning as the Coventry striker then grabbed a shock lead for the visitors, albeit courtesy of a lucky deflection.

His speculative shot goalwards looped up off Zurab Khizanishvili and beyond Friedel before nestling in the far corner of the net 11 minutes before the break.

Rovers: Friedel, Emerton, Samba, Khizanishvili, Berner, Bentley, Tugay, Mokoena, Treacy, Rigters, McCarthy. Subs: Warnock, Nelsen, Pedersen, Derbyshire, Brown Coventry: Konstantopoulos, Osbourne, Ward, Borrowdale, Turner, Hughes, Tabb, Doyle, Mifsud, Best, Adebola. Subs: De Zeeuw, Kyle, Simpson, Gray, Thornton