PAUL Lambert admitted he has never heard one of his own players criticised from the stands in the way Chris Brown was during Saturday’s win over MK Dons at Ewood Park.

Striker Brown saw his goal drought extend to 33 games for the club and he was guilty of missing a gilt-edged chance moments after the Dons had taken the lead.

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But Lambert said the former Doncaster striker is performing duties that go beyond his raw numbers, and insisted he will remain in the squad for tonight’s clash with promotion-hopefuls Middlesbrough.

“Browny has been playing very well for us of late,” said the Rovers chief.

“He missed chances at the weekend, the first one he should definitely score, but Browny over the last few weeks has been very good and he’ll be a part of it again (tonight).

“People look and see he’s not scoring, but he takes a lot of weight off other people with the physical battles that some people won’t do. He’ll tie people up through his physicality and the way he plays.

“The goals aren’t coming for him at the minute but different parts of his game are helping us.”

Asked if the barren spell was affecting Brown’s confidence, Lambert said: “He’s fine. I’ve not heard fans booing their own player before. It’s never nice, he’s part of our team, he’s doing everything for the football club, so you hope people can see it. He’s our player, he’s doing everything he can to help the team.

“It can’t have been nice for him. He’s got team-mates in there who really like him. He’s our player.

“He needs the fans, everybody needs them and we’ll need them (tonight). Every player wants to be loved. Maybe the reaction was a bit much.”