Pepe: I'd swap shut-out for points

Pepe Reina was pleased to keep his third clean sheet in a row at Blackburn on Saturday - but he admits he'd have swapped that statistic for three points.

The Reds are showing signs of returning to their resilient defensive best after another shut-out at Ewood Park, but Reina was left disappointed at the end of a match which could have gone either way.

"I would swap a clean sheet for a victory all day long," Reina said.

"Apparently we are defending better now than we were and that is important but we have to win because that is what really matters.

"Having said that, if you cannot win then the next most important thing is not to lose, so at least we managed that.

"It was a very difficult game, a physical game. We had two or three chances but they also had a couple of chances. It was a tight game and in the end I think a draw was a fair result.

"When we get to May we will be able to talk about what we have or haven't achieved, that is the time to talk about everything.

"It is always difficult when you play away from home, especially when the team you are playing against pushes from the very first minute.

"We knew that Blackburn would be like this and we wanted to control the game from the very beginning but we couldn't and at times it was difficult to deal with the first ball and the second ball.

"We came under some pressure but in the second half we showed another face and we were a lot better."

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