McCarthy: Scored penalty

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Blackburn boss Paul Ince took plenty of positives after Rovers lost 2-1 to Sporting Lisbon in a friendly on Saturday night.

The Premier League side took the lead in the 20th minute when Benni McCarthy was brought down for a penalty, which he got up to convert.

But the Portuguese outfit were level immediately thanks to a stunning Pedro Silva free-kick, and they then scored the winner 17 minutes from time thanks to Tonel's neat finish.

It was Rovers' second game in two days after their 3-2 victory over Benfica in the Guadiana Cup the evening before.

Lovely football

Speaking afterwards, Ince told the club's official website: "It was good, to be fair I thought we played better today than we did against Benfica. We played some lovely football.

"It is always hard when you play two games in 48 hours, I think the preparation really wasn't realistically right for the lads. But in saying that, we did well.

"I'm disappointed we didn't win the game, disappointed we lost the game in the last few minutes through a lack of concentration when Benni let the runners go, but overall it has been a good workout and exercise for us, I'm very pleased with it"