BLACKBURN Rovers are to assess the groin injury picked up by defender Charlie Mulgrew in the 1-1 draw with Birmingham City.

Mulgrew was forced off just 16 minutes in to the game with a re-occurrence of the injury which saw him miss two games last month.

The Scotland international returned after 16 days on the last occasion, with Rovers hoping for a similar timescale this time around.

However, the defender will undergo a scan before an accurate timeframe can be drawn up.

“He has tweaked his groin again,” manager Owen Coyle said.

“You couldn’t make up some of the things that happens in terms of injuries we’ve had since the start of the season.

“We will have to wait and see how long that will be, hopefully not too long.

“Last time it was 16 days or so.

“Depending on what the extent of that is, we will ascertain that and then go from there.”

When he has played, Mulgrew has been a vital player for Rovers since his summer move from Celtic, but injuries have restricted him to just 15 appearances so far this season.

It means Rovers will almost certainly be without Mulgrew for the FA Cup fourth round tie with Blackpool on Saturday, with Rovers next in action on February 1 against Leeds United.

His departure prompted another change to the back four, with Darragh Lenihan moving in to central defence, having started at right-back, to partner Gordon Greer.

Teenager Ryan Nyambe slotted in at right-back, and Coyle was pleased with his showing.

He added: “Lenihan went in alongside Greer and Ryan Nyambe came in and I thought acquitted himself very well, so I was really pleased for again.

“Having gone a goal behind, and then lost one of your best players, it would have easy to have felt sorry for ourselves but they picked themselves up, showed the heart for the fight, and that will stand them in good stead as we move in to that second period of the season.”