MARK Hughes last night took an angry swipe at Rio Ferdinand for his part in the tunnel bust-up that marred Blackburn Rovers' Carling Cup exit at the hands of Manchester United.

On a night of high drama at Old Trafford, the furious Blackburn boss laid into the United defender, angrily accusing him of provoking the half-time flashpoint that overshadowed Rovers' brave bid to reach a second League Cup final in four years.

Trouble flared when Ferdinand appeared to barge into Rovers midfielder Robbie Savage as the pair left the field at the end of a feisty first half.

An eye witness later told me an altercation then took place between the pair in the tunnel area and, in the melee that followed, it is alleged that a punch was thrown as team-mates from both sides stepped in to break things up.

Hughes later said he didn't see' any fracas in the tunnel, but he made his feelings plain about the role Ferdinand played in what was an unsavoury incident.

The Rovers chief said: "Apparently Rio Ferdinand, as he's gone off the pitch, has kicked Robbie Savage so why he thought he needed to do that I don't know.

"Robbie went to ask him why the hell he's done it and everybody went in to make sure nothing else happened, which it didn't.

"I was last to get there so I didn't see anything.

"I don't know exactly what (Rio's) done, but there was no need for it."

Savage later refused to comment on exactly what tookplace in the tunnel.

, but he did say Ruud Van Nistelrooy was lucky not to get booked for a challenge just before half-time which appeared to be the catalyst for the half-time confrontation between Savage and Ferdinand.

"Ruud trampled all over me and yet he didn't get booked," said the Welshman.

As for the game itself, Savage said he and his team-mates weregutted' to have lost 2-1 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate.

"We are absolutely devastated because we know we could have won that game," said the 31-year-old.

"Over the two legs, there was nothing between the two sides and I thought they were hanging on towards the end.

"You could see they were panicking because they switched to five at the back, but we couldn't get the goal that would have taken it to extra time.

"There was an incident in the second half when Rio Ferdinand handballed it in the box but the ref didn't give a penalty when that was a more obvious one than the one he did give against Zurab in the first half.

"Maybe if he'd given that, it might have been a different story, but we can still leave Old Trafford with our heads held high for the way we played on the night."