PAUL Lambert has backed his beaten Blackburn Rovers squad to bounce back from Sunday’s FA Cup humbling - starting at Derby tomorrow night.

Ewood Park optimism quickly drained away after Ben Marshall’s opening goal against West Ham, and in the end the Hammers 5-1 rout could have been more but for Jason Steele’s second half saves.

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There is no let up in the fixture list for Lambert’s side, with eight Championship matches coming in the next 24 days. And Rovers can’t afford to let Sunday’s disappointment affect their league campaign as they turn attentions to securing survival with Lambert’s side currently eight-points clear of the bottom three.

While the Ewood boss is frustrated with his side’s congested fixture list, he is pleased tomorrow’s trip to the iPro Stadium comes around quickly, giving Rovers the chance to banish memories of their cup nightmare.

“The fixtures come thick and fast, but not every team plays like West Ham,” said Lambert.

“It’s good we have another game so quickly, and then on the Saturday after that.”

And Lambert insisted he doesn’t face a challenge to lift morale after the cup exit.

He made five changes for the visit of West Ham, with Grant Hanley, Tommy Spurr, Corry Evans, Jordi Gomez and Danny Graham all back in contention for the resumption of league activity.

“They’re fine, I won’t have a problem with lifting them,” said the Rovers boss. “We’ve got guys coming back as well.

“They knew themselves that up until that sending off (of Chris Taylor) they were well in the game, they made a right good contest of it.

“Once the sending off happens it becomes extremely tough.

“It will be easy to take the positives, the players know the sending off has hurt them. They had a lot of running to do, West Ham keep the ball very well, they’ve got some really top players at the top end of the pitch.”

The clash with the Hammers was billed as an opportunity for Rovers to test themselves against Premier League opposition.

Lambert has made no secret of his desire to return this club to the top-flight, but he also knows the amount of work required to reach those standards.

And he said his players must aim high after seeing at close quarters the quality in the Hammers side, with Slaven Bilic’s men seventh in the top flight.

“That’s something you aspire to, they’re a right good side,” said Lambert.

“That’s the standard we want. It’s the nature of the game. The higher you go up that’s what you’ve got to compete against.

“As a footballer you want to go as high as you can and that’s the level you’ve got to reach.”