<i>Mosquito</i> bites again

Michael Mifsud repeated his League Cup match-winning display against Manchester United earlier this season to inspire Coventry City's outstanding 4-1 FA Cup third round victory over Blackburn Rovers here at Ewood Park on Saturday.
Mifsud scored twice when the Championship side beat United at Old Trafford last September and the Maltese forward again claimed two goals to lay the foundation of a thrilling victory with an Elliott Ward penalty and Dele Adebola strike completing the rout.
England winger David Bentley gave Blackburn a flicker of hope when he scored with five minutes remaining, but at that stage Blackburn were already three down and Mifsud, who had opened the scoring in the 34th minute, quickly extinguished any chance of an unlikely comeback with his side's final goal in added time.
Separated by 28 league places, this tie had all the makings of a routine victory for the Premier League side who have recently emerged from a period of indifferent form with successive league wins that had restored their bid to claim a place in next season's UEFA Cup.
By contrast, Coventry had a terrible festive period and came into the game having won just one of their previous five games, a run that has left them perilously close to the Championship relegation zone.
But just as they showed against United, Iain Dowie's side appear to have saved all their best form for the cup competitions and after a stodgy opening, took the lead when Blackburn's Chris Samba failed to clear a routine ball into the box properly and Jay Tabb reacted to turn the ball back to Mifsud.
The striker volleyed goalwards and, with the help of a deflection, sent the ball over Brad Friedel, the Rovers keeper, for the 34th minute opener.
Blackburn upped the tempo after the interval having apparently woken up to the fact they could be on the wrong end of an upset but their efforts quickly fizzled out when Coventry doubled their lead.
Tabb's long range shot flew upwards off the crossbar just after the hour and with Leon Best waiting to head the rebound into an empty net, Rovers defender Zurab Khizanishvili barged the Coventry striker out of the way and Ward dispatched the resulting penalty with ease.
Rovers responded by throwing everything forward leaving spaces at the back that were exploited by Adebola in the 83rd minute when the forward evaded two challenges before scoring left-footed.
Bentley's 25-yard strike then proved to be nothing more than a consolation before Mifsud completed the win.