Head coach Neil Redfearn felt United were the better side at Ewood Park as a second-half double from Jordan Rhodes saw Blackburn come from behind to secure a 2-1 win.

Souleymane Doukara had fired Redfearn’s men into the lead after 33 minutes in an impressive first-half showing from the visitors, but Rhodes struck twice in the final 20 minutes to break United hearts.

"We were the better side," said Redfearn. "I think that if we’d have come away with a point I would have been gutted after the way we played.

"I thought as the performance went, I thought it was a great performance.

"I thought we passed the ball well but if you look back and be honest with yourself, it’s not a complete performance because we conceded two goals.

"We’ve got to have that ruthless edge and we’ve got to get across the line because the performance deserved a result."

Rhodes’ equalised following a mix-up in the United defence, before the striker converted a penalty with three minutes remaining on the clock after Luke Varney went to ground inside the area.

"The first goal was a mix-up between the goalkeeper and the centre-half," said Redfearn. "I would say that the goalkeeper was favourite, he’s coming onto it.

"We need to sort it out, we need to grow up. It’s part of growing up.

"This was the message in the dressing room and the criticism that I aimed at them and the things that I said to them.

"It’s the stuff that gets us across the line. But we’ve got to pick ourselves up and go again.

"They’re a young side, they’re learning. It’s going to take time, I realise that. We’ve got to take the positives from this."

Despite the result, Redfearn remained in optimistic mood after seeing enough from his side to suggest they are on the right track, but the head coach admits they must learn to see games out.

"I’ve got to be upbeat about the performance because they’re playing well, " he said. "They played well for half a game against Blackpool and I thought we played well for 70 minutes today.

"We really took these to task against a good side. So we’ve got to do that against Derby, we’ve got to make sure the performance is right and we play right. We’ve got to be more thorough.

"Nobody likes getting beat. Sometimes we need to win ugly.

"We’ve done the hard bit, we’ve played well, we’ve got ourselves in front. Then you’ve got to manage the game and make it difficult for Blackburn. So it’s part of the learning process."