BEN Marshall is set to hand Blackburn Rovers a big boost by declaring himself fit for Saturday’s trip to Brighton.

The in-form winger eventually had to be substituted in Tuesday’s 2-2 draw at Millwall after being the victim of a late lunge from Andy Wilkinson that left him writhing in agony and earned the Lions defender a straight red card.

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Rovers boss Gary Bowyer confirmed after his side threw away a two-goal lead on a fiery night at the Den that Marshall was ‘feeling sore’.

But it is anticipated that the 23-year-old, who played on for 15 minutes before making way for Craig Conway, will have recovered in time to take his place in Bowyer’s starting line-up for the Seagulls clash.

Bowyer was deeply disappointed with the way 10-man Millwall were allowed a way back into a game that should have been beyond them after Rudy Gestede added to Shane Duffy’s first-half opener, just four minutes after Wilkinson’s dismissal.

He felt Rovers, whose starting line-up had an average age of 23, should have maintained possession better and insisted that the intimidating atmosphere created by the Lions fans, after Wilkinson’s sending off, should have had no impact on how they performed in the latter stages of the match.

But he believes they will learn from the experience.

“Our lads will become stronger and better for the experience they had,” said Bowyer.

“I think we only had one player over the age of 26 so it will be an experience for them and it should aid them.

“But we should have kept the ball better after we went 2-0 up, it just kept coming back. We have to be a bit smarter and play smarter.

“When it went to 2-2 we actually did what we should have done before then and that’s pass and move the ball around and in the end we had two great chances to win it.”

The result meant Rovers, who had won their previous three games, missed the chance to move up to fifth and back into the play-off places.

But they remain only four points from top spot and they head to the Amex Stadium on Saturday unbeaten in six games.

Bowyer added: “Sometimes you have to go through these experiences and make these mistakes in order to learn – they’ve got to and it is as simple as that.

“It’s a tough place to come to and before the game, would you have taken a point? Possibly, yes.
“But when you get yourself into a commanding position like we did, we should have seen the game out and won it and got all three.”

Midfielder Lee Williamson missed the match because of a groin injury.

But Bowyer is hopeful Williamson, an increasingly performer for Rovers, will be back to face Brighton on Saturday.