Blackburn Rovers midfielder Stewart Downing has praised forward Adam Armstrong for his excellent performance in Rovers' 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest at Ewood Park on Tuesday night.

Tony Mowbray's side produced a strong response to a frustrating 2-1 defeat at home to Luton Town last weekend, and Armstrong in particular was a standout performer with his energy, smart link-up play and driving runs at times causing problems for Nottingham Forest's defence and helping Rovers push their visitors onto the back foot.

Armstrong's performance was capped by the 22-year-old scoring his second goal in three matches, with the forward giving Rovers the lead on 63 minutes finishing well after his initial cross was blocked by Nottingham Forest defenders, but Mowbray's side were unable to hold onto their lead with Joe Lolley firing in an equaliser two-minutes later.

Mowbray will have been pleased with a couple of performances from individual Blackburn players, with Downing performing really well in a central midfield and helping control the tempo for Rovers, as well as both Armstrong and Greg Cunningham who linked up well down the left-hand side in the second half.

Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph after Tuesday's draw with Nottingham Forest, Downing was keen to point out the performance of Armstrong as being key to Rovers getting back to their best, saying: "I thought Adam Armstrong had a really good game, (Matty) Cash is a good player and he gave him lots of problems.

"We need to get him playing like that most weeks and keep feeding him the ball because he’s a threat and I thought that worked well.

"Down that left-hand side I thought me, him and Greg combined quite well. We’ll get better, the goals will come, we just need to be more clinical."

The Verdict

Armstrong is very much a confidence player at times that needs to feel wanted to get the best from him, and the 22-year-old frustrates at times with a lack of end product in the final third, and his quality should see him add more goals and assists to his game, which he is starting to do having managed two goals in three matches after Tuesday's goal.

Downing, who performed excellently himself in the heart of midfield against Nottingham Forest, is right to praise Armstrong's display and highlight the combinations he, Armstrong and Cunningham created down the left-hand side of the pitch, which is something Mowbray could look to utilise in the coming weeks.

Blackburn will be needing all of their most important players to be at the top of their game if they are to mount a challenge for the play-offs, and Tuesday's performance against Forest certainly displayed that in the likes of Armstrong and Downing, Mowbray's side have two crucial players in top form at the moment.