BLACKBURN Rovers boss Paul Lambert praised the impact of substitutes Chris Brown and Darragh Lenihan after his side earned what he believed was a deserved point in drawing 1-1 at home to QPR last night.

It was Hope Akpan who got the goal, five minutes from the end of normal time, which ended Rovers’ runs of three straight defeats and four games without scoring.

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But Lambert believed the performances of striker Brown and midfielder Lenihan, who later dropped to centre-back after Shane Duffy went off with a groin injury, from the bench were crucial in the late comeback.

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He said: “All credit to the team, I thought the very least we deserved was to get something from it.

“I was happy with them coming back because we’ve had a wee bit of a hard time the last few weeks and we were playing against a good side. It’s a big point.

“We had so many chances in that first half to score a few and with the way things were going for us we weren’t really getting the break.

“Big credit for the team for hanging in with it and I think if the game had gone on for another five minutes we would have won it.

“I was delighted with the two that came on. I thought Browny came on and affected the game. He made the crowd get up for it and he was a handful. I just said in the dressing room there, ‘you changed the dynamic of the game because you’re big, strong, and got hold of it’.

“He upset a few people in their defence and sometimes that works for you. He might not score but what he does do is cause problems.

“Darragh is only a young kid but he’s certainly knocking on the door for a start, that’s for sure. I thought Darragh was excellent when he came on in midfield and excellent when he went to centre-half.

“I think he's got a decent chance of being a really good footballer.”

QPR were heading for their first victory under new manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, at the eighth attempt, and their first over Rovers since 1999 after Leroy Fer opened the scoring in the 24th minute.

But, after making it 15 straight matches without conceding a first-half goal, for the fifth league game running they dropped points in the final 10 minutes.

Hasselbaink said: “It was a late sickener – another punch for us to take. 

“It's two points lost. Football can be cruel at times because it wasn’t deserved tonight. 

“I thought we played well in both halves but we need to take our chances when we’re on top.”

Of Akpan’s equaliser, Rovers’ first goal in more than eight hours of football, Hasselbaink said: “We shouldn’t have let the ball bounce like it did from the throw-in. That’s disappointing. Fair play to them, they took full advantage, but we could have defended it better.

“They used the throw-in and the long ball into the box a lot and for the majority of the time we dealt with it. But if you lose focus at this level then you are punished.”