Blackburn were one of three sides - Stoke and Wolves the others - to be named by the Fulham midfielder as playing too fired up and of having "no brains" in the challenges they were making.

But Allardyce, who produced figures to show his side have the fourth-cleanest record in the Barclays Premier League this season, said it was time for Murphy to apologise.

"If he's man enough, that's what he should do," Allardyce said.

"The allegation made by Danny Murphy was totally and utterly wrong as you can see by the facts we have given out.

"We are not dirty and we never go out to injure a player; I never send a player out to injure a player on the opposite side, we are too professional for that."

Blackburn take on Sunderland on Monday night in the final fixture of the Barclays Premier League weekend.

Allardyce will need to come up with a plan to deal with Asamoah Gyan, who is set to lead the way for Sunderland with Darren Bent injured.

Black Cats boss Steve Bruce said: "Thankfully, Gyan has come in and the way he has trained in the last couple of days, he is far, far, far better.

"He is happy in his surroundings now, has come to grips with it and has done a bit of physical work, which he needed, so it has helped him.

"That's the reason we brought him in, so that if Darren goes down, we have somebody of that quality to bring in, which for a manager is terrific."

Murphy will be in action two days before, when he and Fulham face Tottenham.

Wayne Rooney will surely play when Manchester United seek their first win in three matches at home to West Brom tomorrow.

Conflicting statements have emerged regarding the ankle problem United boss Sir Alex Ferguson claimed kept Rooney out of United's previous two games - draws against Sunderland and Bolton.

Rooney has claimed he has not at any point this season had an ankle problem.

Either way, after starting for England in the 0-0 draw with Montenegro on Tuesday, Rooney should lead the line at Old Trafford.

A victory for United would close the gap on leaders Chelsea to two points, at least until the defending champions take on Aston Villa at Villa Park in the evening kick off.

Fourth-placed Arsenal host Birmingham needing to bounce back following consecutive Premier League defeats at the hands of West Brom and Chelsea.

Seventh-placed Stoke travel to Bolton, Newcastle host Wigan, and Wolves entertain West Ham in the remainder of Saturday's fixture.

Sunday is highlighted by the first Merseyside derby in living memory to double as a relegation battle with hosts Everton 17th and visiting Liverpool 18th, and the game is taking place against the backdrop of the ownership wrangle at Anfield.

Manchester City, who start the weekend second, travel to Blackpool later in the day.