ELLIOTT Bennett may have only just got back into the Blackburn Rovers side after a frustrating injury lay-off – but he insists he deserves to be on the bench for today’s trip to Derby County (3pm).

After six weeks on the sidelines Bennett made his return in Tuesday’s 1-0 EFL Cup third-round loss at Championship rivals Leeds United.

The winger was one of nine changes to the team that started last Saturday’s vital 4-2 victory at home to Rotherham United.

Rovers’ first league win of the campaign hauled them off the bottom going into this afternoon’s encounter with surprise strugglers Derby.

And Bennett admits that the players who were rested in midweek deserve to come straight back into Owen Coyle’s starting line-up.

He said: “The gaffer gave nine of the lads an opportunity to show what we can do but the lads that won on Saturday fully deserve the shirt.

“It was a great win at the weekend and hopefully we can continue that on Saturday at Derby with the lads that have played (on Tuesday) pushing every day in training and supporting them.

“We’ve got to be together as a group. It doesn’t matter if you’re starting, on the bench or not in the squad, we’re a group and we all need to do well.

“If the teams wins, everyone wins, whether you’re in the starting XI or not.

“The lads who won on Saturday were fantastic. It was a fantastic win and why should they come out of the team? There’s no real reason for it.

“It was a fantastic win, the lads did brilliant, that’s the way it is. You’ve got to be patient, wait for your turn and when that chance comes around grab it with both hands.”

Bennett was delighted to be back on the pitch after hurting his hamstring in the opening day home defeat to his former club Norwich City.

That kick-started a seven-game winless start to the Championship campaign.

And father-to-be Bennett, whose wife is expecting twins, said: “It was fantastic to get 90 minutes in the first team.

“It’s been disappointing, more to the fact that results haven’t been going well, up until the weekend, and being in that treatment room, you cannot affect anything, just watching and trying your best to support the lads.

“It’s a horrible place to be when things aren’t going well. I’m glad to be back and from a personal point of view it was good to get 90 minutes.”

Much-changed Rovers went down to defeat after substitute Chris Wood made the most of a poor pass out of defence from Darragh Lenihan to net Leeds’ 84th-minute winner.

Bennett, who went close to opening the scoring on three occasions, said: “I don’t like making excuses. We all train together every single day, everybody knows each other, it’s not like the gaffer has got a load of strangers off the street and said, ‘go and have a game’.

“Don’t get me wrong it’s difficult when there are wholesale changes but you can’t use that as an excuse. Leeds made changes as well. I honestly don’t think we deserved to get beat, especially the manner of the goal. David Raya didn’t deserve that. I thought he was fantastic.

“I felt it was destined for extra-time. We had a few chances, they had a few chances. Neither team created anything what you’d call clear-cut, have-to-score chances.

“It just didn’t break for us like the one at the end when Marvin (Emnes) has pulled it back and Hope (Akpan) is just about to pull the trigger and maybe it’s a penalty, maybe it’s not.

“We just have to bounce back on Saturday.”