BLACKBURN Rovers crashed out of the FA Cup after suffering an embarrassing defeat to Coventry City in this third round tie.

Mark Hughes' side got exactly what they deserved after a shocking performance against Iain Dowie's giantkillers.

Trailing 1-0 to a first half goal from Michael Mifsud, Rovers then caved in in the second half, as an Elliott Ward penalty, a Dele Adebola strike, and a second goal for the lively Mifsud sealed a richly deserved victory for the Championship side.

By the time David Bentley grabbed a late consolation with a low drive from 25 yards out, a large proportion of the home fans in a crowd of 14,421 had already begun heading for the exits.

Manager Mark Hughes chose to rest several key players but that plan backfired spectacularly.

Coventry took the lead in the 34th minute when Mifsud's shot looped off Zurab Khizanishvili and over a stranded a Brad Friedel.

Chris Samba then hit the woodwork twice early in the second half, but Coventry then went 2-0 up in the 63rd minute, the hapless Khizanishvili flattening Leon Best in the area, and Ward made no mistake from the spot.

Worse was to come for Rovers as Adebola then shrugged off Khizanishvili, Ryan Nelsen and Morten Gamst Pedersen to slam a third past Friedel.

Bentley, Rovers' best performer on the day, did pull one back in the 85th minute, but it was little more than a consolation strike.

Then in time added on, Mifsud rubbed further salt into the wounds when he thumped a fourth past Friedel.

Rovers: Friedel, Emerton, Samba, Khizanishvili, Berner, Bentley, Tugay, Mokoena, Treacy, Rigters, McCarthy. Subs: Nelsen (for Rigters, 60), Pedersen (for Emerton, 60), Derbyshire (for Treacy, 69) Not used: Warnock, Brown Coventry: Konstantopoulos, Osbourne, Ward, Borrowdale, Turner, Hughes, Tabb, Doyle, Mifsud, Best, Adebola. Subs (Not used): De Zeeuw, Kyle, Simpson, Gray, Thornton