BLACKBURN ROVERS 0, Wanderers 1: El-Hadji Diouf has done it again. The Senegal star - never far from controversy - was at the centre of a derby storm that saw him hailed a hero by jubilant Wanderers fans and branded a villain by football's self-styled ethics police.

Diouf even managed to eclipse Robbie Savage in the duel of the bad boys as Mark Hughes and his wild Rovers accused him of conning referee Steve Bennett into awarding the penalty that earned the Whites the sweetest revenge for their defeat at the Reebok four weeks ago.

A third successive Premiership win, helped in no small way by a second successive clean sheet, lifted Wanderers to ninth, right back on course for the top eight finish they set as their target at the start of the season.

Yet video replays supported claims that Rovers keeper Brad Friedel made no contact when Diouf went down to win the spot kick, from which he scored the only goal, 13 minutes from the end of one of the most lacklustre clashes between the Lancashire rivals in living memory.

As Diouf celebrated his fifth goal of the season, knocking in the rebound after Friedel had saved his penalty, the African's footballing morals were under scrutiny again.

Even Sam Allardyce acknowledged that fortune had favoured Wanderers while Diouf's team-mate, Gary Speed, looked embarrassed and uncomfortable when he was interviewed on Sky TV, seconds after being shown the incident.

"It doesn't look like a penalty. Blackburn won't be happy about it but well take it," Speed said, earning praise for his honesty.

Hughes fired both barrels, accusing Diouf of "diving" and blaming referee Bennett for failing to spot it, doubly-depressing for Rovers who believed Diouf should have been sent off rather than booked for a third minute challenge on ex-Wanderer Andy Todd.

"We've lost to a very poor refereeing decision," Hughes rapped. "He was in a good position to make the correct decision and he didn't.

"The lad has dived. He has a reputation for diving so, possibly, the ref should have done a little bit of homework about who he was involved with and taken that into consideration.

"We were aggrieved because in the first half he (Diouf) has thrown an elbow and made contact with Andy Todd. The referee's seen it, obviously, because he's booked him.

"So he should have been sent off twice - first for the elbow then for simulation."

But Allardyce, who delighted in seeing his defence produce a shut-out, as they did in beating Arsenal eight days earlier, hit back. "We came away with a fortunate 1-0 win but there have been many times when decisions have gone against us," he said.

"A little bit of luck has gone our way whereas in December it was all going against us."

Allardyce said video evidence showed Diouf had not deliberately elbowed Todd and countered Hughes' claims by citing Robbie Savage's dangerous first minute tackle on Ricardo Gardner and a fruitless penalty appeal when Lucas Neill blocked Henrik Pedersen's shot with his hand.

He added: "People are saying Dioufy's this and Dioufy's that, we could all go bleating about the opposition team because we've lost. But I think that's pretty poor really."

Although it was Diouf who took the accolades and the brickbats, this was one of his least effective performances and it was only when Kevin Davies was sent on early in the second half that Wanderers tested the Rovers defence in which Todd was outstanding.

Neither side did enough to deserve the victory in a game that was as uninspiring as the attendance - just over 20,000.

There was needle with Savage predictably marking his debut following his £3 million transfer from Birmingham with a booking for persistent fouling. The fiery Welshman was on the receiving end too when Kevin Nolan was fortunate to escape with just a booking for a two-footed tackle that left him with a bruised shin.

Wanderers have played better - even during the run of 10 games that reaped only three points - but, after Jussi Jaaskelainen made important first half saves from Morten Garnst Pedersen and Neill, they deserved at least one point for their solid defensive display.

Speed acknowledged the fact when he passed on his man of the match champagne to Bruno N'Gotty and Tal Ben Haim.

"I didn't think I played well, but they were magnificent," he said. "They deserve it."