GARY Bowyer has backed Adam Henley to hold his own against Chelsea superstar Eden Hazard if the Blackburn Rovers right-back is thrown into the Euro 2016 deep end.

The uncapped Henley is expected to start on the bench for Wales tonight in their huge qualifying clash with Belgium.

But, should the 20-year-old get on to the pitch at the Cardiff City Stadium, Bowyer has no doubt he would give left-winger Hazard as good as he has got.

The Rovers boss believes Henley, who was recalled to the Wales squad for their 3-0 win in Israel in March, is an ‘outstanding one v one defender’ and should take massive confidence from his impressive performances against Raheem Sterling and Liverpool in the FA Cup this season.

Bowyer said: “I’m excited for Adam and hopefully he will get on.

“He finished the season ever so strongly for us after meeting up with the Wales squad.

“It was great for him to rub shoulders with the likes of Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Ashley Williams.

“He will have learned loads from training and playing alongside those players and when he came back to us he pushed on even further.

“And I think he showed in the FA Cup games against Liverpool that he can handle playing against world-class players.

“I think he did a particularly great job against Raheem Sterling and if he’s required to play against Eden Hazard, it would be fantastic for him, fantastic for our club, and I’m sure he’d give Hazard a good game.”

Henley, who turns 21 on Sunday, established himself in Bowyer’s starting line-up in the second half of the season.

He also scored the first senior goal of his career in a 2-1 win at Sheffield Wednesday.

And Bowyer is keen for Henley to develop the attacking side of his game further next season and, like newly crowned player of the year Markus Olsson on the opposite flank, create more chances.

“I was really impressed with the way he went forward in the last game of the season against Ipswich,” said Bowyer.

“That’s something we’ve encouraged him to do and he knows that he’s got to do that himself.

“Adam’s an intelligent lad, off the pitch as well as on it, so he understands that’s an area of his game, going forward, that he needs to improve.

“There’s no reason why he can’t do that and that’s why we’ll certainly be looking at him to make more assists for us next season.”

The only other Rovers player on international duty this weekend is Corry Evans.

The midfielder is in the Northern Ireland squad for their table-topping Euro 2016 qualifier at home to Romania tomorrow night.

Grant Hanley and Jordan Rhodes have not been included in the Scotland squad for their big qualifier away to Scotland tomorrow afternoon.

Hanley was left out after missing the final 15 games of the season while Rhodes, who continues to interest Championship rivals Middlesbrough, was overlooked despite finishing the campaign with four goals in his last five games.