Blackburn edged through to the fourth round of the FA Cup after Carlos Villanueva's strike gave them a 1-0 win at non-league Blyth Spartans.

Sam Allardyce's men set up a trip to Sunderland later this month thanks to Villanueva's stunning second-half free-kick but they were made to work hard for it by the Blue Square North outfit.

Rovers, as expected, dominated possession from the outset with Keith Treacy forcing Spartans keeper Mark Bell into a smart stop down to his right after good build-up play by the Premier League side.

Ged Dalton sliced an effort off target after a mix up between visiting keeper Mark Bunn and Aaron Mokoena while at the other end Alan Judge's clever ball into the area found an unmarked Matt Derbyshire who failed to make a proper connection with his attempted volley six yards out.

Richard Pell had to alert to head Vince Grella's goalbound volley off the line just before the break while the lively Villanueva curled an effort a couple of yards wide just after the restart.

Rovers finally broke the deadlock in the 59th minute when Villanueva, who was about to be substituted, was brought down 25 yards from goal and stepped up to curl a magnificent free-kick beyond Bell.

Blyth finally produced a worthwhile effort on goal with 18 minutes to go but Gareth Williams' long-range free-kick was comfortably held by Bunn.

Andrews missed a great opportunity to wrap up the tie for Rovers when he scooped over the bar from close range but it should have been 1-1 with six minutes to go when Alex Gildea's brilliant cross to the far post was volleyed inches wide by substitute Andy Wright and Blyth's chance had gone.