Blackburn Rovers midfielders Keith Andrews and Morten Gamst Pedersen experienced differing fortunes in their weekend Euro 2012 qualifiers.

Andrews played the full 90 minutes as the Republic of Ireland beat Macedonia 2-0 in Skopje courtesy of Robbie Keane’s brace, while Pedersen’s Norway slipped to a 1-0 defeat in Portugal.

Pedersen featured through-out and missed the opening period’s best chance when he blazed over the bar when well placed.

The Rovers winger is back in action when Norway take on Lithuania in a friendly tomorrow night.

Blackburn striker Nikola Kalinic is on a high after scoring a late winner to send Croatia to the top of Euro 2012 qualifying’s Group F.

Kalinic, who came off the bench to secure a 2-1 win over Georgia in Split, said: “It was wonderful to score the decisive goal.

"It was a difficult game and it was hard to break down the Georgia defence, especially after they scored and put men behind the ball.”

In Chisinau, Rovers star Martin Olsson did not play as Sweden thrashed Moldova 4-1.