BLACKBURN boss Mark Hughes has warned Thierry Henry and Co not to expect another Real Madrid-style romp at Ewood Park tomorrow.

Henry and his Arsenal team-mates barely worked up a sweat in cruising to a magnificent Champions League victory in the Bernabeu on Tuesday night as Real paid a heavy price for standing off the Gunners.

However, Hughes has told the Londoners they face a different type of challenge altogether at Ewood, where Rovers will attempt to underline their own Champions League credentials by securing a victory that could take them up to fifth in the Premier League table.

Hughes said: "If you allow good players time and space in which to operate then they have the ability to hurt you, as Arsenal proved against Real.

"I felt Real stood off Arsenal too much and never really put them under any pressure. As a consequence they had the space to exploit that.

"I would like to think we won't allow them that kind of time and space this weekend.

"Arsenal have struggled at times when they have faced teams who have denied them space. That's what you have to do when you play a team as accomplished as they are.

"It was still an outstanding performance, a great result for them and for British football.

"But I was hoping for more of an intense game for them, which didn't seem to happen.

"Although they might not be as physically drained as I would have liked, I'm hoping it will have taken something out of them emotionally because it was a high-profile Champions League game."

Ironically, Hughes' Rovers side were widely criticised for their rough and tumble tactics in losing to Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final last season.

On Tuesday night, however, Real were accused of not being physical enough in trying to stop the Gunners from playing their normal game.

"I did have a wry smile on my face when people were saying Madrid should have got stuck into Arsenal,'' said Hughes.

A victory for Rovers tomorrow would seem them leapfrog the Gunners in the table but history does not bode well for the home side - they have lost their last six matches to Arsenal without scoring a goal, conceding 13 in the process.

"That's something we need to change," added Hughes.

"We have found it difficult against them, but as we showed when we lost 3-0 at Highbury earlier this season, we can create chances.

"The scoreline was not a true reflection of the game because I feel we created as many chances against them as any Rovers side has done in recent times.

"On another day we would have scored a number of those, but they were outstanding in how clinical they were against us.

"We would hope to reverse that, and we do have forwards who are playing well and who have the ability to unpick the lock."