Blackburn Rovers boss Paul Ince admitted some relief after victory over Carling Cup opponents Sunderland last night.

Sunderland manager Roy Keane fielded a strong team at the Stadium of Light, including striker Kenwyne Jones, whom he said yesterday would not play as he consulted a surgeon over his knee injury.

But Ince saw his men survive a series of first-half scares to emerge victorious as the game was decided by a flurry of activity midway through the second half.

Ince said: "I'm delighted, considering we put a team out that wasn't probably as strong as Sunderland's.

"To be fair to Roy, he probably caught me on the hop because I thought he was going to play a few kids and when I saw his team, it scared the life out of me.

"I saw conflicting reports - Kenwyne Jones was having a scan after landing on his knee on Friday and all of a sudden, he's on the teamsheet.

"Whether Roy was trying throw a googly at me, it certainly worked.

"But whatever team I put out goes out to win, and they are capable of winning if they play to their maximum.

"We have got a great bunch of players and we showed in the last round, when Everton played their full side, that we have players who are capable of coming in a doing a job and impressing me."

Roque Santa Cruz made his mark within two minutes of entering the fray as a 63rd-minute substitute on his return from a hamstring problem.

The Paraguayan ran on to Christopher Samba's flick-on from a Martin Olsson cross to head past the stranded Marton Fulop, and it was 2-0 within five minutes when the Hungarian pushed a Matt Derbyshire cross on to Phil Bardsley's legs and looked on in horror as the ball flew past him.

Jones pulled a goal back within seconds, but it proved too little, too late as Sunderland slumped to their fourth consecutive defeat and their second in a row on home soil.

Roy Keane said: "It's groundhog day, the same scenario. It's frustrating.

"Again, there wasn't much between the two teams - there's has not been much in the games of late, but we are on the losing end, so we have to sort that out."