Following a poor first half, City trailed at the interval to in-form David Bentley's third goal in four games, with the England midfielder scoring in the 15th minute.

Nine minutes into the second half, Gary McSheffrey was denied an equaliser by an offside flag, and within a minute Benni McCarthy converted a penalty following Johan Djourou's foul on Roque Santa Cruz.

Although Cameron Jerome handed City a lifeline in the 68th minute, sparking a rousing finale at Ewood Park, the damage had been done as far as Bruce was concerned.

He said: "They do put them (the officials) under enormous pressure here.

"That's all they do - shout, bawl, scream and swear at them - and all the rest of it to make these decisions."

Bruce refused to concede who "they" were - the players or the fans - other than to add: "I'm not going to go into it, but you know what I mean."

He then pointed an accusing finger at the assistant referee concerned, insisting: "Today he has desperately got it wrong, and you lose a Premier League game to it.

"The new ruling says there has to be daylight. There is no way on earth he can give that decision.

"He has to be 100% to do so, and if there is any benefit it should go to the forward and not the defender.

"At one each then we've an outstanding chance to go and win the match, but 30 seconds later the game is finished.

"I've no qualms about the penalty, but that decision just after half time is the big one in the match, and it's galling.

"Even then, when we went 2-0 down, we still didn't give up the ghost. We still could have got something out of it."

Bruce feels technology has to be used because there is too much at stake in the Premier League these days.

"We've got all this technology - more cameras than ITN," said Bruce.

"We've seen it in the Rugby World Cup with big decisions, where the referee goes straight to the third official, and they make a decision within 10 seconds and we all accept it.

"With the way the Premier League is now, it's vital to us.

"I vowed I would not moan and groan about decisions because it's hard enough, but these are big games for us in this league."

The win was Blackburn's fourth in a row, erasing the heartache of their shock UEFA Cup exit on Thursday to Greek side Larissa.

Hughes was delighted his side, who are up to sixth.

He said: "It was a big performance by us.

"The little edge to our game that is usually there wasn't quite there in the first half, and that was maybe as a consequence of our efforts on Thursday.

"That impacted on us, but in the second half we got our second wind, and I thought we were good value in the end.

"We had to withstand an aerial onslaught at the end and get our head on things and our bodies in the way of a few things.

"But we showed great qualities. We stuck at it and got the three points the performance deserved."