Match report: Blackburn Rovers 3 West Ham 2

Trailing 1-0 to a first half strike from West Ham's Bobby Zamora, Rovers looked to be lurching towards a third straight defeat in the Premiership, which would have been an unmitigated disaster going into the most crucial fortnight of the season so far.

But then enter Dickov who suddenly grabbed this game by the scruff of the neck, scoring twice in quick succession just before the hour mark, to lay the foundations for yet another incredible comeback almost as dramatic as the one at Charlton 10 days earlier.

These days, Rovers, under Mark Hughes, simply don't know when they are beaten and no one epitomises the fighting spirit that courses through this team more than Dickov, the spiky striker opposition defenders respectfully call 'The Pest'.

Before Saturday, the former Manchester City ace had not exactly covered himself in glory this season.

Sent off on the opening day of the campaign at West Ham, Dickov hardly made the most auspicious of starts and a succession of niggly injuries since have meant his appearances have been sporadic.

In fact, last weekend against Everton, the pint-sized Scot wasn't even considered for a place on the bench, even though he had made a sufficient recovery from his latest stint on the treatment table.

But when you need someone to stand up and be counted, Dickov is usually the first in the queue and he answered an SOS from Hughes here, courageously carrying the fight to the Hammers in the absence of the hamstrung Craig Bellamy.

When referee, Mike Riley, handed Rovers a lifeline in the 55th minute in the guise of a softly-awarded penalty, Dickov was quick to step up to the plate and he confidently dispatched his kick past Roy Carroll with the minimum of fuss.

Three minutes later, the 32-year-old was then on the mark again, coolly converting a Morten Gamst Pedersen cross at the far post for his fifth goal of a stop-start campaign.

Although it needed a third goal from Shefki Kuqi to finally seal all three points, the fight-back had only been made possible by Dickov's never-say-die attitude.

Hughes was later asked if he saw elements of himself in the fiery frontman and he replied with a smirk: "He's a little bit more mobile than I ever was!

"He's whole-hearted and he gives you everything that he's got and if that bears comparison to me, then all well and good."

If Dickov was the architect of Rovers' gutsy revival then Kuqi was the human wrecking ball that brought about West Ham's downfall.

With the score locked at 2-2, the Finnish international suddenly bulldozed a path through the Hammers' flimsy defence before crashing a fine winner past a stunned Carroll in the 76th minute.

It was a devastating piece of play from the former Ipswich striker, who's becoming adept at making a spectacular impact from the bench.

"Shefki's a great option for us and that's why I brought him to the club because I knew what type of player he was," said Hughes.

"He's whole-hearted and very similar to Paul in that respect because he gives you everything that he's got.

"He's a big, physical specimen, too. He unsettles defenders, whether he starts or comes on as a sub, and that's exactly what happened."

Blackburn fans saw the good, the bad, and the, occasionally, ugly side of their team during a match that bordered on the bizarre at times.

The good was the way Rovers courageously clawed their way back from a goal down for the second time in a fortnight, which is no mean feat in the Premiership these days.

The bad was the sheer volume of passes that went astray, particularly in the first half when, after a promising opening 20 minutes, Rovers began to lose the plot.

And the ugly was some of the rank bad defending that threatened to undermine much of the good work going on elsewhere; Zurab Khizanisvili nearly committed defensive suicide with one poor attempt at a headed back pass in the second half.

Then, of course, there was the spat between Brad Friedel and Robbie Savage, who angrily squared up to each other after a defensive mix-up very nearly presented Yossi Benayoun with a late equaliser.

It was a strange moment but, as Hughes later pointed out, it perhaps underlined just how fired-up Rovers were to protect their slender advantage at a point in the game when emotions were running high.

If you throw in nine bookings, another 'stonewall' penalty that wasn't given, and a serious injury to West Ham's Danny Gabbidon that gives you a sense of just what an incident-packed game this was.

Rovers started brightly as Savage struck the bar with a deflected free kick and a Dickov effort crept just wide of the far post.

Then the Hammers suffered a further set-back when Gabbidon badly gashed his knee after crashing into an advertising board, which led to him being replaced by Christian Dailly.

Rovers lost their rhythm after that and, right on the stroke of half-time, they were dealt a hammer blow, Zamora shooting low past Friedel after seizing onto Marlon Harewood's pass.

Salvation came from the penalty spot in the 55th minute, Riley harshly judging that Tomas Repka had deliberately handled in the area.

Three minutes later, Rovers were ahead, Dickov pouncing at the far post after Pedersen's cross had taken a deflection off Daily.

The home fans' joy was short-lived, though, as West Ham capitalised on more slack defending in the 63rd minute, Zamora crossing from the left for Harewood to head powerfully past Friedel.

Both sides had chances to regain the initiative; Savage shook the bar again with another free kick, then Harewood blasted wastefully over following a terrible error by Khizanishvili.

Rovers should have been awarded another penalty in the 71st minute when Dickov was shoved over by Anton Ferdinand but, amazingly, Mr Riley waved play on.

In the end, it didn't matter as Kuqi struck five minutes later.

The flying Finn beat Dailly in an aerial challenge and then barged his way past Ferdinand and Paul Konchesky, who both fatally hesitated, before crashing an unstoppable shot past Carroll.

A gripping finale to a thoroughly absorbing second half.