BLACKBURN Rovers striker Danny Graham admits there has been an over-reliance on Sam Gallagher for goals as he looks to ease the striking burden on the Southampton loanee.

Graham scored twice to take his tally to four for the season as Rovers chalked up a fourth win of the campaign against Brentford at Ewood Park last weekend.

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The pair are expected to continue their partnership in attack at Newcastle United tomorrow, having started just five games together previously.

Gallagher has impressed in his 18 outings, scoring seven times, and his more experienced strike partner was full of praise for the 21-year-old.

“He’s surprised me a lot,” Graham said. “I knew about him, but I didn’t know that much. He’s come in and been a breath of fresh air.

“He holds the ball up, he can run, he’s quick and strong and he scores goals.

“Hopefully he can continue to do that throughout the season for us.”

Graham’s previous goal for Rovers had come in the 2-1 win at Derby on September 24, and he added: “I was delighted to get back on the scoresheet. There has been a lot of reliance on big Sam Gallagher over the last few weeks and he has done unbelievably well.

“We need to be scoring more from all over the pitch and all over the team so it was nice to get back with a couple of goals, but as I’ve said, the most important thing was the three points because we needed them massively.”

Graham missed four games prior to the Brentford win with a knee ligament injury and his return coincided with Marvin Emnes being forced off in the 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa.

That brought about a sooner than expected return to the fold for Graham who played the final 59 minutes of that game having replaced the Swansea loanee in the first-half.

He was then brought off 13 minutes from the end as Rovers held on against Brentford last weekend and the striker admitted he was still short of match sharpness He added: “I’m definitely not match fit.

“It’s been a long six weeks.

“I played a bit more than I expected at Villa because of Marv’s injury and I think it will take me a couple of games to get to where I want to be.

“But if we can continue to pick up points then I will be a happy man.”

Only three teams in the bottom half have scored more than Rovers’ 19 goals so far this season, with their forward line boosted ahead of the trip to St James’ Park by the return to fitness of Emnes.

However only three sides have conceded more than the 27 Rovers have shipped in their 17 games.

And Graham admits it’s clear where they have struggled.

“I think we have got a very strong forward line,” he added.

“I’ve said before that if we can defend well as a team we will always score goals.

“That’s what we’ve been working hard on.

“I would never blame the back four, it’s a team game and we defend from the front.

“If we can get that right and get the shut-outs then we will win more games than we lose.”