The Sky Blues proved there is life after Dion Dublin with a vital victory at Ewood Park.

Peter Slater: Coventry can quite happily live without Dublin

Both sides are at the wrong end of the table but Coventry leapfrogged over the home side into 17th place in the Premiership table with goals from Darren Huckerby and Noel Whelan.

They were given the responsibility of leading the line following Dublin's departure to Aston Villa, with the signing of Norwegian Andreas Lund not completed in time for him to make his debut.

Gary McAllister talks about Coventry's post-Dublin performance

Whelan grabbed the winner after Tim Sherwood had cancelled out Huckerby's second half opener and disgruntled Blackburn fans booed their team from the pitch at the final whistle.

Coventry began brightly and Huckerby showed he had lost none of his pace when he sprinted past Stephane Henchoz in the sixth minute but his finishing was less impressive as he blasted over.

Henchoz saved his side in the 17th minute when he denied Whelan at the near post with a terrific tackle after Coventry captain Gary McAllister had found in space on the right.

Chris Sutton (left) substituted at half-time

Rovers were on the backfoot and McAllister was unfortunate to miss out on opening the scoring in the 22nd minute with a powerful 25-yard drive but a deflection took it away from Tim Flowers' goal.

Coventry were soon on the attack again and Flowers brilliantly denied Huckerby when the Coventry striker was put clean through.

Rovers made two changes at half-time with Kevin Davies coming on for Sutton and Italian Dario Marcolin, who is on loan from Lazio, replacing Peacock.

But Clement found Huckerby in space after 54 minutes and the striker raced into the area and fired past Flowers in the 54th minute for his second goal of the season.

Five minutes later Whelan again hit the crossbar when he connected first time with Roland Nilsson's cross from eight yards out.

Nathan Blake holds his head after Coventry's second goal hits the net

Rovers secured an equaliser against the run of play when Sherwood headed home following Johnson's corner. But the optimism in the crowd immediately dissolved as Rovers slumbered again, allowing Whelan to force his way into the area unmarked and blast into the roof of Flowers' net.

Huckerby almost added a third six minutes from time but a last-gasp Henchoz tackle saved the day.

Blackburn: Flowers, Kenna, Davidson, Sherwood, Peacock, Henchoz, Sutton, Duff, Blake, Johnson, Dailly. Subs: Davies, Marcolin, Croft, Dunn, Filan.

Coventry: Hedman, Nilsson, Shaw, Breen, Huckerby, Whelan, McAllister, Telfer, Clement, Froggatt, Edworthy. Subs: Williams, Boateng, Soltvedt, Hall, Ogrizovic.