Damien Duff provided a match-winning display as Blackburn took another giant stride towards maintaining their Premiership status.

Football may be a team game but no-one has done more for Blackburn's cause this season than Duff.

The Republic of Ireland winger created goals for Yordi and Andy Cole, and had the Rovers' strikers been sharper they could have had even more courtesy of the ginger-haired winger.

Duff was also involved in the move which led to David Dunn winning a late penalty, which the England midfielder took himself, before Szilard Nemeth hit back for Boro in injury-time.

The winger's display would have heartened Rovers manager Graeme Souness, forced to watch from the stand due to one-game touchline ban, imposed for comments made about referee Graham Barber in the FA Cup fixture between the same teams in mid-February.

It also served to enliven a game which was drifting into dreary stalemate until his intervention.

Blackburn had already provided a warning of their threat when Cole conjured up the first clear opening of the game for Yordi in the 27th minute.

The Spaniard had only Schwarzer to beat from 10 yards, but his shot was at an easy height for the Middlesbrough keeper to save, and it was a real let-off for the home side.

Franck Queudrue tried his luck with a free-kick for Middlesbrough, but it was straight into the wall.

In the 33rd minute, a magnificent run by Duff allowed Yordi a tap-in to put Blackburn ahead.

The move began with a neat turn by Tugay, Duff picked up possession and embarked on an angled run through the massed Middlesbrough ranks which ended with him flicking the ball past Robbie Stockdale and crossing low to the far post where the unmarked Yordi could scarcely believe his luck.

It was Duff who was mobbed by his team-mates rather than the goalscorer, and rightly so.

Then came Middlesbrough's best moment of the half as Dean Windass' lay-off rolled perfectly into Paul Ince's path and he struck a drive which crashed into the advertising hoardings a foot wide of the post.

Dunn and Duff then linked for the Republic of Ireland winger to send in another deadly cross.

This time it seemed Cole would be the recipient of the tap-in but somehow the striker completely missed the ball.

Middlesbrough then claimed a penalty when Stig Inge Bjornebye tangled with Luke Wilkshire, to no avail, before Windass volleyed a half-chance over the crossbar.

Early in the second half, Lucas Neill came to Blackburn's rescue with a brilliant tackle in the box to rob Benito Carbone after Windass' blocked shot had fallen into the little Italian's path.

Carbone, the most skilful player on show, then struck a lovely volley from 25 yards but just wide of the post.

Blackburn were being pushed onto the defensive and sent on Garry Flitcroft for Gillespie in an effort to shore up the midfield.

The substitute soon found himself in referee Neale Barry's notebook for an ugly tackle on Ince, at the same time presenting Middlesbrough with a free-kick dead centre 25 yards out.

Carbone took it and produced a tremendous effort which curled towards the top corner until Friedel flung himself across goal to divert the ball past the post.

More skill from Duff saw Blackburn win a corner in the 74th minute. The winger took the flag-kick himself and Cole met it to secure the valuable second goal for Blackburn.

It was a bad goal to give away from Boro's point of view as Cole's markers failed to pick up his run and he bulleted a header past Schwarzer from the edge of the six-yard box.

"Are you watching Eriksson?" sang the Blackburn fans - ignoring the fact the England coach would hardly have been impressed by Cole's earlier miss.

Dunn then won a penalty when Queudrue stuck out a leg to halt his run, and the midfielder sparked a mass exodus of home fans by slotting in the spot-kick himself.

To rub salt in Middlesbrough's wounds, Queudrue was shown a straight red card for a tackle from behind on Dunn as he burst through the defence.

There was some consolation for Boro in injury-time when substitute Nemeth beat Craig Short to Michel Debeve's long ball over the defence and chipped Friedel to score.

Teams

Middlesbrough Schwarzer, Stockdale, Southgate, Festa, Queudrue, Wilkshire (Debeve 45), Mustoe (Nemeth 75), Ince, Johnston (Marinelli 45), Carbone, Windass.

Subs Not Used: Crossley, Cooper.

Sent Off: Queudrue (88).

Booked: Wilkshire, Mustoe, Festa.

Goals: Nemeth 90.

Blackburn Friedel, Bjornebye, Berg, Short, Neill, Gillespie (Flitcroft 56), Tugay, Dunn, Duff, Cole, Yordi (Hughes 67).

Subs Not Used: Johansson, Unsal, Kelly.

Booked: Berg, Flitcroft, Cole.

Goals: Yordi 33, Cole 74, Dunn 83 pen.

Att: 26,932

Ref: N Barry (Scunthorpe).