Blackburn Rovers boss Sam Allardyce hailed his team after clinching a top ten finish with victory over Aston Villa.

Rovers made it four top-half finishes in the last five years as they came away from Villa Park with a 1-0 win courtesy of Richard Dunne's own goal six minutes from time.

The result followed last Monday's 2-1 victory over Arsenal and means Allardyce's side were beaten just once in their last nine games, a satisfying conclusion to the season which has boosted the prize money they will receive for their final position.

"Arsenal 2-1 and Aston Villa 1-0 - it's a fantastic finish to the season for us and shows you the difference that a couple of wins makes," Allardyce said.

"Instead of perhaps 14th in the table, which we would have been quite satisfied with, we have now beaten two of the big guns in the Premier League.

"It will hopefully make a big difference to our budget in the summer."