The win was watched by over 7,000 City fans in the Darwen End at Ewood Park, but a lot of big hitters from the media were also in attendance to see how City got on in the wake of a busy summer on the transfer front.
What they saw was one of those new signings, Emmanuel Adebayor, get City off to the perfect start after just two minutes. The home sie were repelled until stoppage time at the end of the game when Stephen Ireland coolly slotted the ball between Paul Robinson and the post to seal the three points.
Hughes said, “This has been historically a difficult place to come but we are delighted. It was important we made something of a statement as a lot of people were looking at what was going to happen at City today.
“We saw today that there has been a really big shift in terms of our qualities and what we will have to show in standing up to the challenge to make sure we come out on top this season.”
Of our great start from Adebayor, the Manager added:
“It was a great goal and a fantastic finish. It started off in our box by defending well, then we broke with speed and conviction, Ade was there for the set back from Shaun, and it was a fantastic finish. A great goal and the best start we could have hoped for.”
The Togolese striker looked at home straight away, but his overall contribution apart from the goal also drew warm praise from Hughes, who added:
“I thought Ade was excellent today, along with a number of others, but the goal helped him and settled him down. His general play, and attitude towards working hard for his team was evident for everybody. If you have front men that are prepared to chase, harry and rectify mistakes, that filters right through the team. Everybody was bouncing off everybody else today.”
