RICHIE Smallwood says he won’t be changing his approach despite being one yellow card away from a two-match ban.

The Rovers midfielder believes he wouldn’t be worthy of a spot in the team were he to alter his game having started every league match so far this season.

His combative style has already seen him serve a one match suspension, missing the FA Cup win over Barnet in November, and has since been booked four more times.

He faces a two match ban should his 10th yellow card of the campaign arrive before the end of March, but Smallwood insists that’s not playing on his mind.

“You have to take each games as it comes and if the suspension comes then it comes,” the 27-year-old told the Lancashire Telegraph.

“The last two games I’ve not changed my game.

“Me and Benno (Elliott Bennett) have put in some good performances and I’m not too worried about it.

“If I need to make a late foul to stop a counter-attack then I’m willing to do that for the team.

“If I don’t play like that then I’m not the same player and probably not worthy of wearing the Blackburn Rovers shirt.

“But as long as I do that then I’m happy with myself.”

Smallwood has had a new partner in the centre of the pitch for the last two games, Bennett having been moved alongside him following injuries to both Corry Evans and Peter Whittingham.

They were excellent in the win over Shrewsbury Town, where they were singled out for praise by Mowbray, and they worked well again in the victory at Fleetwood Town.

And Smallwood added: “Benno, that’s how he plays, a bit like me but with more intensity and more speed really.

“It’s nice to have a partner in there who can do that, I know the others can do that but Benno has adjusted well in the last couple of weeks and long may it continue.”

Smallwood’s late winner at Highbury, coupled with Shrewsbury dropping points at home to Doncaster, saw Rovers move in to the automatic promotion spots for the first time this season.

The former Rotherham United man though knows the job is far from finished with still 19 games of the season to play.

They will be keen to continue their winning streak in back-to-back home matches within the next week, with Smallwood knowing they can’t afford many slip-ups in the race for promotion.

“We know there are another two massive games coming up at home, Northampton and Walsall,” he said.

“We played Northampton away and we know how tough they were, although it was away, but they have some good players and if we’re not at it then we’ll find, as we have at Ewood at times, so we’ll be working hard throughout the week to be right at it.”