Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray says he is confident that his side still have options in the centre of their defence, despite the impending ban facing Darragh Lenihan.

The centre back picked up his tenth booking of the season in Blackburn's goalless draw with Stoke City on Wednesday night, meaning he will now miss his side's clash at home to Swansea City on Saturday, and the trip to Pride Park to face Derby County on the 8th March.

Lenihan has been an ever-present at the centre of Rovers' back four when fit this season, appearing in 29 of their 35 league games this season, and forging a strong partnership with Manchester City loanee Tosin Adarabioyo, something which is now set to be broken up, temporarily at least.

Speaking about the prospect of replacing Lenihan for those next two games, Mowbray told the Lancashire Telegraph: “We have a few options, we’ll make the decision on Friday.

“They will be on Thursday, doing a cool-down session, then do a light session on Friday and prep for what’s coming and what Swansea are all about."

Discussing the loss of Lenihan to his side, Mowbray continued: “That’s a frustration. A clean sheet was a positive for us, we didn’t want to give them anything to cling on to so a clean sheet was very important for us. I don’t think it was under too much threat for most of the night.

“Lenihan has been exceptional for us, as has Tosin, but we have to find a different combination for the next two games.”

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Rovers' options to replace Lenihan will not be helped by the injury that has kept fellow centre back Derrick Williams out of the matchday squad for the last three games, and it seems the Swansea clash at least will be beyond the Republic of Ireland international.

Providing an update on the 27-year-old's fitness situation, Mowbray added: “Derrick isn’t ready, the plan will be that he trains on Monday.

"With a calf injury would it be a gamble to throw him straight in after not doing anything for a few weeks in a game where we need him to be right.

“We’ll see how he feels the next few days, but the plan for Derrick was that he starts training on Monday, give himself a week to get through training and see how things went. It’s a huge call at this call to think we’ll throw Williams straight in the team.”

The Verdict

Lenihan's ban is a big blow for Rovers.

With the play-offs still well within reach for Mowbray's side, they will want their strongest side available for as much of the run-in as possible, and Lenihan is certainly a part of that when you look at his performances this season.

Given Williams too has proven effective when given his chance at centre back since the back end of the previous campaign, his absence certainly does not help Rovers either here.

As a result, it looks as though Blackburn's ability to rotate and adapt is going to be seriously tested over the next few weeks, and if they can come through do that, it should at least be a strong sign that they are capable of challenging for promotion sooner rather than later.