HUGHES'S VIEW Blackburn 0-1 Chelsea

"I was a little bit more upset that the opposing manager was not gracious enough to shake my hand," said Hughes, whose side lost 1-0.

"Sometimes you have to be gracious in defeat but you also have to be gracious in victory afterwards.

"I have no idea why. Perhaps he was too busy on the field with his players."

But Mourinho dismissed suggestions that he had blanked Hughes.

He said: "I shook hands with him before the game two or three times. When the game finished I went onto the pitch with my players.

We came here to play football and it was not a football game, it was a fight Jose Mourinho

"I think this is ridiculous, the game has finished, I'm happy, I want to be with my players, I don't want to be with other people.

"If I see him when I leave the building of course I would shake his hand."

The Chelsea manager also criticised Blackburn's tactics in a hard-fought game.

He added: "They felt they couldn't beat us playing football so they tried to beat us in a different way - direct football, first ball, second ball, being nasty and hard and trying to intimidate players.

I don't think Rovers were overly physical and certainly not dirty From Nick M Have your say on 606

"During this afternoon it rained only in this stadium - our kitman saw it - they tried everything. There must be a microclimate here. It hadn't even rained here at all and yet the pitch was like a swimming pool.

"Then you look at the blond boy in midfield, Robbie Savage, who commits 20 fouls during the game and never gets a booking.

"We came here to play football and it was not a football game, it was a fight and we fought and I think we fought fantastically, with a lot of spirit, with a solid defence, with everyone fighting for the same cause."