ROVERS' UEFA Cup dream ended at the 1st round despite a 2-1 victory at Ewood Park this evening.

The 2-0 loss to Larissa at the Panthessaliko Stadium a fortnight ago proved to be too much of a deficit to pull back, and that job was made all the more difficult when Cleyton Silva fired the visitors in front on 17 minutes.

Rovers struggled to get their passing game going in a frustrating first half, but right on the stroke of half-time they were given a lifeline when David Dunn was upended in the box. Derbyshire levelling after his initial penalty kick had to be retaken.

The second half couldn't have started any better when David Bentley's centre was volleyed home at the back post by Stephen Warnock on 51 minutes, then Foerster almost put a Bentley cross into his own net, the ball flying narrowly over the bar, whilst Christopher Samba missed Rovers' best chance of the second half, heading over from close-range.

But resolute defending from the Greek side meant that they afforded few further chances for Rovers to pounce upon, Pedersen, McCarthy and Savage were all thrown on in a desperate attempt to pull the game back, but there was to be no way past as the Greek fans celebrated long and hard after the final whistle.

Before the game both Mark Hughes and Giorgos Donis resisted the temptation to tinker with their sides. The Rovers boss named the same eleven that started at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, whilst Donis kept faith with the same eleven that had played so well in the corresponding fixture a fortnight earlier.

Despite Rovers needing goals and preferably early on, the game offered very little to cheer the home fans. Larissa may have been content with their lead from the first leg but they still looked the more threatening in the early stages, the usually solid Rovers defence showing uncharacteristic frailties, allowing the Greek side to play a lot of the game in the opposition half.

The first meaningful effort on goal ended up in the back of the net, and much to the disappointment of the home fans it was Larissa who grabbed the opening goal to extend their advantage further. A centre from Alexandrou from the left wasn't dealt with Foerster's touch put the ball into the path of Cleyton Silva. He still had plenty to do, but shifted the ball to one side and fired across Brad Friedel and into the back of the net. Much to the delight of the seven hundred or so colourful Larissa fans behind that goal.

That goal left Rovers with a bigger mountain to climb than they had at the start of the game, trailing 3-0 on aggregate it meant that they would have to score four unanswered goals for them to progress through to the group stages of the competition.

But the goal shook up the home side, their confidence evaporating into the night sky as Larissa forced error after error from the home side. Passes were misplaced, players caught in possession, it wasn't pleasant viewing.

It took all of forty minutes for Rovers to get their first effort on target, David Dunn, one of the livelier players for Rovers, skipped inside to let fly from the edge of the area, but his low strike was easily dealt with by Kotsolis.

On the stroke of half time Rovers were given a lifeline when David Dunn got the last touch to the ball before being brought to the ground by the Larissa 'keeper. Swiss referee Claudio Circhetta immediately pointing to the spot.

It was Matt Derbyshire who took the responsibility of taking the penalty kick, but his strike down the middle was saved one-handed by Kotsolis, Derbyshire put home the rebound only to turn around and see the linesman's flag was raised. There had been encroachment in the area, the kick had to be taken again.

Thankfully there were no such dramas from the re-take, Derbyshire firing the ball low and hard into the bottom right hand corner of Kotsolis's goal with the Larissa 'keeper diving the opposite direction.

Mark Hughes resisted the temptation to make changes at the break, sending out the same eleven that had performed so poorly in the first half, and that patience looked to have paid off when Stephen Warnock gave Rovers the lead on 51 minutes when he volleyed home David Bentley's cross at the back post.

That prompted Rovers' best spell of the game, two minutes later another Bentley centre from the right was almost turned into his own net by Marco Foerster, the ball going agonisingly over the crossbar.

But that pressure wasn't able to build and slowly but surely the Greek side were able to regroup and restrict Rovers to very little. Morten Gamst Pedersen was brought on for Mokoena as Rovers switched to a more orthodox 4-4-2 formation, balls continued to be pumped into the area, but Larissa remained resolute.

Benni McCarthy and Robbie Savage were thrown on, but whatever Rovers tried there was to be no way through. Roque Santa Cruz fizzed an effort towards goal that Stefanos Kotsolis grabbed at the second attempt with McCarthy lurking.

With the final throw of the dice Christopher Samba was thrown up front in the final stages, and the giant defender had Rovers' best chance, but from Pedersen's long throw he headed somehow over the crossbar.

The cool heads were on the bodies of the side in crimson as they comfortably saw out the remaining minutes to claim a memorable victory over Rovers over the two legs.

ROVERS: Friedel (c), Emerton, Samba, Ooijer, Warnock, Tugay, Mokoena (sub Pedersen 62 mins), Dunn (sub Savage 78 mins), Bentley, Derbyshire (sub McCarthy 69 mins), Santa Cruz.

Subs not used: Brown (GK), Savage, Khizanishvili, Rigters, Kane.

LARISSA: Kotsolis, Dabizas, Kyriakidis, Galitsios, Cleyton (sub Kalantzis 78 mins) , Sarmiento, Fotakis, Alexandrou (sub Kotsios 57 mins), Foerster, Bakayoko (sub Dimitris 90 mins), Katsiaros.

Subs not used: Kipouros, Parra, Venetis, Bachramis.

Booked: Tugay, Samba, Warnock (Rovers), Sarmiento, Kotsolis, Cleyton, Fotakis (Larissa)

Attendance: 20,741

Blackburn manager Mark Hughes is eager for injuries to his key defenders to clear as soon as possible after the end of his side's 15-match unbeaten run.

Christopher Samba missed the Uefa Cup defeat to Larissa in Greece after being concussed in the goalless draw with Chelsea, but could return to face Portsmouth at Ewood Park on Sunday.

Skipper Ryan Nelsen, meanwhile, suffered a hamstring injury on Thursday and could face a couple of weeks out of action.

Hughes believes the pair have been the building blocks for Rovers' fine start to the campaign and wants them back together on the pitch.

"They have been the strength of our side, in the initial part of this season," said Hughes.

"They have given us a real defensive base from which we can play our football. It would be a big blow if we lost the pair of them."

Muscle injury

Nelsen missed the first six months of the year with a hamstring injury but Hughes is happy that the new problem is not so serious.

"He is a little bit sore but it is similar to the episode concerning his hamstring last year," Hughes reflected.

"He missed 10 or 15 days or so and felt a similar pain this time.

"It is not a hamstring as such, it is not a muscle injury, it is just a pain he gets when the scar tissue releases. If that's the case the prognosis is probably better than we initially thought."

Blackburn's success has been based around consistent selection and strong characters, so Hughes is likely to ask the same off-colour players to atone for the European defeat.

"Overall the performance wasn't anywhere near the level we have produced over a long period, so we fully expect it to improve this weekend," he said. "We will get this game out of the system quickly and we will see a completely different performance I am sure.

"We have played exceptionally well this season and in fact over a long period of time. "Albeit it is not the perfect way to go into a game, in one way it is good we have this quick turnaround because we have to get up to speed again against a good Portsmouth side."

( From: rovers.premiumtv.co.uk ) IF Rovers are to progress through to the group stages of the UEFA Cup then they'll have to do it the hard way after a horror show in Greece.

Two goals in two mad minutes midway through the first half gave Giorgos Donis's side a healthy advantage ahead of the second leg at Ewood Park in a fortnight's time.

There weren't too many familiar names amongst the Larissa line-up but it was one of the few known players who gave the home side the lead on 33 minutes. Ibrahima Bakayoko's effort from distance deflecting past Friedel off Ryan Nelsen into the top corner of the net.

Bakayoko didn't enjoy the greatest of spells when he played for Everton, although of the four goals he scored in a year-long spell with the Merseyside club, two of them did come in a 2-1 victory Rovers in March 1999.

Sixty seconds later and the nightmare got worse for Rovers. Brett Emerton woefully underhit a back pass, Cleyton provided the finishing touch.

Rovers looked a shadow of the side that had been in the middle of an impressive fifteen game unbeaten run as they rarely threatened a lively Larissa side. Roque Santa Cruz had their best effort, but he somehow headed wide with just Kotsolis in the Larissa goal to beat.

But that was a rare effort at goal as the home side dominated for long spells, with Rovers grateful in the end that the scoreline wasn't increased further.

Mark Hughes put out his strongest possible line-up, with just the one expected change as Andre Ooijer came in to replace Christopher Samba. But despite this, Rovers chose the Panthessaliko Stadium to put in their worst performance of the season.

Despite the noise generated by the Larissa fans, down in the pitch the game was decidedly low key, Rovers seeing a lot of the ball, but unable to make anything of it on an awful surface. Perhaps that their best, and only, decent chance of the first half didn't touch the ground proved that point. A long throw from Morten Gamst Pedersen was brilliantly controlled on the chest by striker Benni McCarthy, he turned and acrobatically shot towards goal only to see the ball strike the head of his marker and away to safety.

Time and time again Rovers had promising positions, usually from dead ball situations, but time and time again crosses or shots were straight into the arms of Larissa goalkeeper Stefanos Kotsolis.

The home side had offered little as an attacking force, but all that was to change on 33 minutes when they took the lead. It came courtesy of former Everton marksman Ibrahima Bakayoko. He turned well in a tight space some 25 yards out and advanced on goal before shooting, the ball taking a deflection off a Rovers boot which just did enough to send it over the despairing Brad Friedel and into the back of the net.

It was the first goal that Rovers had conceded in European competition this season, but the game had barely got back underway when the lead was doubled. Brett Emerton's back pass was woefully short and that allowed Alexandrou to advance towards goal, Friedel saved the initial effort but the ball was worked to Bakayoko and then to Cleyton Silva who fired home from 12 yards despite the best efforts of Friedel and Ooijer.

With a two-goal advantage, Larissa were able to relax and sit back, Rovers played out the remaining ten minutes pretty much in their opponent's half, but without ever forcing a meaningful save from Kotsolis.

Fotakis saw a free-kick palmed away by Friedel as Larissa started the second half strongly, but Roque Santa Cruz should have reduced arrears on 54 minutes. A high ball into the area found the Paraguayan in acres of space as the ball came down and with the goalkeeper stranded in no mans land, all the Rovers striker needed to do was head it over the 'keeper and into the net, but he somehow headed wide.

Circumstances continued to conspire against Rovers as they lost talisman Ryan Nelsen with what looked like a hamstring injury just before the hour mark. Zurab Khizanishvili replacing the Kiwi.

Mark Hughes cut a frustrated figure on the touchline, unimpressed with what he was seeing, he quickly made a second change, Matt Derbyshire replacing the ineffective Morten Gamst Pedersen.

As Rovers readjusted to their new shape they almost conceded a third, only a timely block from sub Khizanishvili stopped Bakayoko from getting his second goal on the night. Moments later midfielder Ilias Kyriakidis fizzed an effort narrowly over Brad Friedel's crossbar.

It was a performance that was akin to former Euro horrors from Rovers, gone was the confidence on the ball, passes were regularly astray, and their hesitant play allowed the Greek side to dominate.

Rovers had Brad Friedel to thank for ensuring that the lead wasn't stretched even further, making a sensational stop to deny Cleyton with his legs.

Tugay looked lively when he came on for Rovers with just over ten minutes to go, but time and time again Mark Hughes' side were wasteful in front of goal, despite enjoying a host of promising positions.

Mountains provide an impressive backdrop to the Panthessaliko Stadium, and is precisely what Rovers will have to climb if they are to progress through to the second round in a fortnight's time at Ewood Park.

LARISSA: Kotsolis, Ntampizas, Kyriakidis, Gkalitsios, Cleyton (sub Kalantzis 85 mins), Sarmiento, Fotakis, Alexandrou (sub Gkikas 77 mins), Foerster, Bakayoko (sub Venetis 90 mins), Katsiaros.

Subs not used: Kipouros, Boukouvalas, Bachramis, Kozlej.

ROVERS: Friedel, Emerton, Ooijer, Nelsen (sub Khizanishvili 57 mins), Warnock, Bentley, Dunn, Savage, Pedersen (sub Derbyshire 62 mins), Santa Cruz, McCarthy (sub Tugay 78 mins).

Subs not used: Brown, Mokoena, Olsson, Roberts.

Booked: Katsiaros (Larissa), Warnock, Bentley (Rovers)

Attendance: 8,126