No excuses from Ince

Paul Ince argued his Blackburn players should have been "embarrassed" by their "diabolical" home defeat to Sunderland.

Chris Samba had given Rovers the lead at Ewood Park but an equaliser from Kenwyne Jones when goalkeeper Paul Robinson failed to deal with Kieran Richardson's corner and winner from Djibril Cisse sealed their fate.

Ince refused to point the finger at Robinson but was furious his players had failed to build on their Carling Cup win over the same opponents in midweek.

Ince revealed: "It was a mistake without a doubt as he just came at the wrong time. But he has been outstanding for us and we are all in this together."

He added: "I have just had a go at the players as I am upset and angry. We could have been three or four goals ahead by half-time.

"We got punished in the second half. It was a diabolical performance and the players should be a bit embarrassed by what happened."