PAUL Hurst felt his Shrewsbury Town side made it an easy afternoon for Rovers by not playing at their best for long enough spells.

A Charlie Mulgrew free-kick and penalty, plus a Danny Graham close range finish saw Rovers close the gap to just two points.

The visitors levelled 10 minutes before the break through a Jon Nolan penalty and Hurst felt his side ended the first half, and started the second, well.

But he believes they contributed to their own downfall with the goals they gave away.

He said: “I didn't think we played well enough for long enough.

“The last 15 minutes of the first-half we did well and for the start of the second-half.

“We contributed massively to giving them the second goal. After that we had one or two bits but overall we made Blackburn's victory easy.

“They did a lot of the basics well today. I don't think we got cut open. They just returned the ball, competed, picked up second balls and played at a good intensity.

“They got the crowd behind them and in the end we didn't have enough answers to that for long enough in the game.”

Mulgrew curled home a free-kick for the first, while Graham turned in the second after Dack had been denied by the post, before Rovers got a penalty of their own which Mulgrew converted.

It was the first time this season the Shrews have conceded three times, and Hurst added: “I thought we were the better side when they scored their second. We finished the first-half strongly once we got the equaliser. We started to pass it a bit.

“In the beginning of the second-half we did what they had done. Started returning the ball, putting it into their areas - we then looked on top of the game.

“We gave three goals away - the first time it has happened to us - the first was a free-kick off the post, the second was a good strike that hits the post but Graham's the first to react. I'm not sure if we could've reacted better.

“The third one, I can see why the penalty has been given but he's (Samuel) has kicked it out of play and jumped into Deano (Henderson).”

Shrewsbury were backed by their second biggest away following of the season and Hurst says the know their side remain in a good position going in to the remaining 20 games.

He told the Shropshire Star: “It was a good atmosphere full stop and our fans contributed to that.

“They were right behind the team and still behind the players at the end.

“They understand what the group are trying to achieve. We had some moments but not enough quality in the final third when we did get there.

“When you come to these places and you're not at your best, you've got to eliminate basic errors and take advantage of situations.

“But I won't have too many complaints, they played at a good tempo. Goals change games, had we not gone behind at 2-1 who knows?

“We'll dust ourselves down. We're still in a good position.”