John Eustace’s side beat Portsmouth 3-0 at Ewood Park as Blackburn ended their winless run in the Championship and moved into the play-offs.

In a rescheduled match postponed in November due to a waterlogged pitch caused by Storm Burt, the visitors came closest to scoring in the first half when Colby Bishop hit the crossbar and looked certain to score.

But substitute Makhtar Gueye headed home just after the hour mark and Callum Brittain scored in the 71st minute before Bishop The header was cleared and Portsmouth appealed for an equalizer, as they had done shortly before the opener. Punishment in vain.

Andreas Weimann added a third goal shortly afterwards to help Blackburn win the FA Cup at Middlesbrough at the weekend. The 1-0 win gave them their first victory in six league games and moved them up two places to fifth.

John Mousinho’s Pompey fell into the relegation zone following Cardiff City’s 1-1 draw with Watford on Tuesday and are currently second from bottom, a point behind the Bluebirds in 21st. A fourth defeat in five league games.

Eustace: Substitutes made a difference

blackburn manager John Eustace:

“We are happy with the three points because tonight is an important game for us.

“After two consecutive home defeats we had to get things right and I thought we performed well in the first 20 minutes and could have scored a few goals.

“We lost our way a bit in the first half and Portsmouth made it very difficult for us.

“The important thing is we made the right changes for 55 or 60 minutes and we did and I think they made a huge difference.”

portsmouth manager John Mousinho:

“As you probably saw from my reaction, I knew it was a penalty.

“Pearce came out and Callum Long got the ball in front of him and Pearce took him out. I don’t understand why the ball wasn’t given. I just spoke to the referee there and I got his explanation , I’m not happy with it today. I think the referee’s decision really cost us the game.

“The linesman signaled the penalty to the referee and the referee took control of the situation.

“He said it was a tie-up. It was just a foul. It was 100 per cent a penalty. I think everyone knew it was a mistake and it was a double whammy because Blackburn went straight up the other end to score.”