MARK Hughes welcomed back-to-back victories, but admitted "we won ugly".

Benni McCarthy's second-half penalty - his first goal since October - was enough to see off Sunderland at Ewood Park.

The Rovers boss said: "Conditions were very difficult, making it hard for both teams.

"Sunderland worked hard to close us down and the outcome rested on two penalties.

"Thankfully Brad (Friedel) saved theirs (awarded for a foul by Chris Samba) and Benni scored ours.

"We will take the points and move on. We usually have to play really well to win Premier League games, but that was not the case here.

"We could not get our passing game going, but a win is a win."