Pardew told Sky Sports: “It’s been a long wait. There’s not been too much wrong with us, just that little bit of quality, and I thought the first goal summed up what we’ve been missing.
“Teddy was the catalyst for a lot of good things in the first half. I thought we deserved to win today. The fans and players deserve it.
“The players were very, very brave today, our central midfield players – Hayden (Mullins) and Nige (Reo-Coker) were under a lot of pressure with the way Blackburn set up and I thought they got on the ball and were brave enough.
“I was very pleased that no-one hid because this is not the place for hiding.
“We stood up and were counted today and I’m proud of them and the fans were special today and they showed that quality that some grounds just can’t get.
“I thought Mark Hughes changed it tactically at half time realising that Ted wasn’t going to go and close full backs down so they started dominating play and we got nervous and defended deep.
“You have to dig deep then and show your character – we had chances on the break though, and unfortunately didn’t take them.
“When we got two I thought we were home and dry, but in the West Ham way we let them have a goal.”
