The show must go on for realist Rover Hughes

In a fair and just world, the Blackburn manager would have been offered the opportunity to further his coaching reputation at Newcastle after they considered his talents a week ago.

The chances are that Hughes would have said "yes".

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But in a climate where fans in football shirts buy clubs and live out their fantasies, logic goes out of the window.

So Hughes was once again on the touchline at Ewood Park, staring at empty seats and a talented but thin squad that he must somehow try to lead to European qualification again this season.

None of this is to denigrate Blackburn, but since arriving almost three-andhalf years ago, Hughes has outgrown this club.

The former Wales boss remains committed to Blackburn but did allude to the difficulty of managing expectations at a modest club.

"Those clubs up there at the top have great resources and we can't compete with that," he said. "This club gives me every penny they have and I appreciate that.

"We pay decent money for players but we can't pay big wages as well. That is how it is. We have good quality and we have good players but we work in a difficult market."

This was a difficult day for Blackburn, in front of a crowd of little more than 21,000 spectators.

A poor first half saw an incorrectly awarded free-kick punished by a David Wheater header as Middlesbrough took the lead in the 13th minute.

The visitors wasted so many chances they should have been out of sight by half-time.

It was so one-sided as to be embarrassing at times but when referee Keith Stroud — who had a poor afternoon — erred again to award Blackburn a free-kick, substitute Matt Derbyshire moved on to Jason Roberts' pass to equalise with 15 minutes left.

Boro played some excellent football and with a natural goalscorerwould have won.

Boss Gareth Southgate continues to court Heerenveen's Brazil striker Afonso Alves, but many Premier League clubs have looked at him and decided he is not the answer.

Southgate said: "The chances we missed were gilt-edged and we should have taken them but I am not going to be critical of my players.

"There was so much that was good and I am happy and the players should be pleased.

"I thought there was a clear handball in the run up the free-kick that led to their goal but the less said about the referee the better."