LEE Carsley today insisted he will not be afraid of being put back on the spot after his second half penalty miss cost Rovers two points against Wolves yesterday.

Rovers' leading scorer dragged his 60th minute effort wide of the post after defender Kevin Muscat had handled Matt Jansen's shot on the line.

But the Republic of Ireland international is ready to take any criticism firmly on the chin, following his first miss in seven attempts.

And he will not hesitate in stepping forward again the next time Rovers are awarded a spot kick.

"Looking back on it now, we would have preferred them to have kept 11 players on the pitch and we could have kept the goal," said Carsley.

"But I'll definitely be big enough and strong enough to take the flak that I've missed one.

"And I'll definitely be there for the next one.

"I practice in training a lot and I'll keep doing that.

"I've now scored six out of seven so, considering there wasn't a recognised penalty taker at the club when I arrived, I think we've got to be happy with that.

"No-one was too quick coming forward so I thought I'd give it a go.

"And I'll be confident next time I step up."

Rovers boss Tony Parkes admitted he was disappointed today after watching his side throw away two points against fellow promotion rivals Wolves.

But the Ewood chief insists the frustration felt by the players and fans signifies the massive strides made by the club since he took over the reigns in November.

"The demands are much higher now than they were two months ago," said Parkes.

"People are now getting disappointed after a decent performance in which we've created chances and drawn 1-1.

"But, whereas that would have been acceptable a couple of months ago, the demands are much higher. We can see a top six spot now so to play like that, create as many chances as we did and only draw is suddenly very disappointing.

"But there's enough games left, provided we keep picking up the points and maintain a good home record.

"The top six don't lose too many games so we've got to make sure we keep picking up points and stay on a good run."

Aside from the result, Parkes was fairly happy with Rovers' overall performance.

And after creating a host of chances, all he felt they lacked was a killer instinct in front of goal.

"Other than scoring the goals, it was a good performance," said Parkes.

"We had chances to win it but we've only ourselves to blame for not taking them.

"But that's how it goes sometimes.

"You always think you are going to score from the spot but good penalty takers miss penalties.

"Then they score the next one and go on another run again.

"Obviously, that was the turning point in the game.

"If we'd have gone 2-1 up then they would have had to have come out and got a goal rather than sitting on a 1-1.

"But I didn't think we played as well against the 10-men as we did against 11.

"We didn't create too many chances when they were a man down.

"So we are disappointed we didn't win it.

"But it's ultimately about a collection of points.

"And we've taken seven out of nine over Christmas which isn't a bad return."

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