BLACKBURN Rovers manager Mark Hughes paid tribute to his super-sub Matt Derbyshire after the striker climbed off the bench to rescue a point against Middlesbrough.

Trailing 1-0 to a first half header from Boro's David Wheater, Rovers were then handed a lifeline by Derbyshire, who pounced to score his fifth goal of the season just 10 minutes after replacing David Dunn.

That was Derbyshire's first goal since October 4, and his first in the Premier League since the opening day of the season, when he scored in a 2-1 win over Middlesbrough at the Riverside.

A relieved Hughes said: "Whenever Matt comes on as a substitute, invariably he has an impact, and that's why he's such a good player to have available to you.

"He's always looking to get on the end of things in the box, and he's nice and sharp, and nice and dynamic, and thankfully the ball broke to him and it was a good finish in fairness.

"I thought he tucked it away very calmly and you hope at that point you can go on from there.

"But the game itself was very stop-start, certainly in the first half, when things were flat from our point of view.

"In the second half, we did get it going somewhat, but there were still a lot of breaks for free kicks and stoppages, and we never really had a period of great momentum where we could try to dictate and overcome the opposition."

Meanwhile, Hughes also explained his decision to hand Jason Roberts his first start since that 2-1 win at Boro, which meant Benni McCarthy was relegated to the bench.

"Jason has been patient and obviously Benni has been struggling for goals of late," said the Rovers boss.

"I just felt it was worth picking Jason but unfortunately, because we went behind in the game, that played into their hands rather than ours, in so much as Jason wants big, wide-open spaces to use his power and pace in behind but, because they were protecting their lead, it was very difficult for him and Roque to get any space behind them.

"He'll be better for that game, though, because he's had 90 minutes now."