Boss Paul Lambert didn’t feel his team did enough after Blackburn had gone in front via Danny Graham’s 65th minute penalty as his side were beaten 2-0 at Ewood Park. Rovers subsequently sealed the game via sub Joe Nuttall nine minutes later.

“I thought they started better than us, I think then we started to come into the game and I thought we looked pretty lively,” he reflected.

“Will Keane went through and I think there was a clip on Will but he tried to stay on his feet and tried to score but it never happened.

“The game changed with the penalty obviously, but I don’t think we did enough after that. I thought the game was really tight but I don’t think we did enough after they scored to get back into it.”

Regarding the penalty, Lambert added: “Callum Elder got himself the wrong side. I think the two goals were from a carbon copy pass really that’s caught inside him, but he’ll learn from experience.

“I can’t give him experience, that comes with playing. We can try and make him better as a player but you can’t beat experience, you can’t buy it and I think that’s the important thing of being a footballer.

“The actual goals, they were well taken from their point of view, but we got caught on that side.”

Lambert admitted that he would rather Keane had gone down rather than staying on his feet when keeper David Raya caught him and drove him too wide to find the net.

“Yes, I would,” he said. “Would I have done it? I probably would have done it, yes. A lot of players would have gone down. He tried to stay on his feet and that’s the decision he made.”

Town might have had a penalty in the late stages of the match when Elliott Bennett blocked Teddy Bishop’s goalbound shot with what replays have suggested was his hand.

“Do you know, I couldn’t see it,” Lambert said of the incident. “Somebody said it was [a penalty], but I couldn’t see it from where I was standing whether it hit the player’s hand. If it hits his hand then he’s got to go really.”

The Blues boss admits the new additions to his recently reassembled squad need time to get up to speed: “It’s always the case but I can’t ask any more from them in terms of effort and commitment.

“As I said, there was nothing really in the game. We look a decent side, we just need that little run and momentum to try and get us out of this position.

“You’ve got to keep bouncing on, you can’t do anything else. We’ve had another really good support coming up a long, long way. We’re disappointed because I just don’t think we did enough.”

He added: “My job is to get a way for those lads to play, integrate them and get them going. There are some really good things there, some really good things to work on.

“We look a better side. That’s the thing. As I said before, we’ve got that little bit of presence there, we look a better side from what we’ve been and we have to bounce back in the next game. But I’m disappointed as I don’t think we did enough when we were down 1-0.”

One positive he could take out of the game was the way his team passed the ball at times during the first half.

“Very good, we’re getting better at it, we’re getting better with the ball,” Lambert continued. “There are aspects where we can be better with it but that will come in time.

“I’ve tried to give them a different way of playing. As I said before, any mistake they make it’s my problem not theirs because I’m telling them how to do it. I’d never criticise the lads for trying to play a certain way.”

He was pleased with debutant Alan Judge’s display: “I think there were some very good things. He’s going to be a really good player, him. I think he’s got really good attributes.

“Again, he’s not played too many games for Brentford and I think he’s going to be a big asset for us.”

Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray was disappointed with his team’s first-half display: “I think our intensity levels were down, I wasn’t very happy at halftime. They weren’t very happy either.

“We were playing against a team who looked to play out from the back and I think if we had our normal intensity levels then we could have taken it off them a lot more and created a lot more chances. We could have been 2-0 up early on.

“But I think Tuesday night had a lot to do with that, 130 minutes in total we played against Newcastle. Several players were asked to go again, so I think that had a part to play in it.

“I’m pleased the substitutes came on and had an impact and affected the game in a positive way. I’m pleased with the points after a game in midweek when they went to extra-time.

“I know we played against the team at the bottom of the league and who have struggled to win games this season but as we managed to do a couple of years ago, teams at the bottom find a way to start winning because of their extra desire and intensity.

“We had to make sure we matched all that and then you hope your quality can help make the difference.”

Photo: TWTD

blueboy1981 added 20:30 - Jan 20 ....... still the criticism of Evans from the same old ..... who want him out. Still waiting for an alternative suggestion to his ownership tho' ....... ??? I guess it will be a long, long wait - because his critics cannot buy the Club, that is certain, at their own admission....... !!! Therefore, hollow, meaningless, words - with no alternative suggestions ..... !!!

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