Fall guy Harvey’s the man for Mow
HARVEY ELLIOTT took a tumble as he helped Rovers snatch a point in this battle of the promotion nearly men.
Elliott, 17, on loan from Liverpool, went crashing over the advertising hoarding behind the goal after controlling a Ryan Nyambe cross which appeared to be heading for a goal-kick.
Elliott’s acrobatics turned the wayward ball into an unlikely assist, allowing substiute John Buckley to stab in from close range 15 minutes from time.
And as Stoke unravelled after being in control for most of the contest, Tony Mowbray’s side could have won it.
Three minutes later the Potters had James Chester sent off for fouling Adam Armstrong.
And it needed a fine save from Joe Bursik to prevent Ben Brereton grabbing all three points.
Mowbray said: “We were off our intensity levels and I could have made five changes at half-time instead of two.
“We huffed and puffed and got our goal.
“But we were up against a good football team with big investment.”
Michael O’Neill’s side took the lead just before the break through former Wigan midfielder Nick Powell.
The Stoke boss said: “In the end we had to dig deep to hang on but we showed good character.
“It would have been very harsh on us not to take anything from the game.”
BLACKBURN: Kaminski 7; Nyambe 6, Lenihan 6, Branthwaite 6, Douglas 6; Johnson 6 (Davenport (46th) 6), Travis 6 (Holtby (63rd) 7), Rothwell 6 (Gallagher
(46th) 6, Brereton (61st) 6); Elliott 7, Dack
6 (Buckley (70th) 7), Armstrong 7 Bursik 7; Collins 7, Chester 7, Souttar 7, Norrington-Davies 7; Allen 6 (Cousins 82nd), Thompson 7, Mikel 7; Powell 7 (Clarke (60th) 6), Matondo 6 (Batth 82nd), Brown 6
Jordan Thompson G Eltringham