Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray says the club will have to keep an eye on the fitness of top scorer Adam Armstrong ahead of their trip to Millwall on Saturday, after the striker encountered an issue with his hamstring during Tuesday's defeat at Reading.

Armstrong played the full 90 minutes of that defeat for Blackburn - their sixth in seven games at The Madejski Stadium - and missed a big chance to equalise in second half stoppage time when he volleyed wide from close range while unmarked inside the Reading area.

Now however, it seems as though there was a chance of Armstrong's contribution to the game ending much earlier than it actually did.

Speaking about the 23-year-old after the game, Mowbray told The Lancashire Telegraph: “Armstrong almost came off at half time because his hamstrings are really sore.

“We have to decide whether we’re going to give him a breather to stop him breaking down."

Indeed, it seems it is not just Armstrong whose workload Mowbray will be looking to manage during a busy run of games, with the Rovers boss going on to add: “They’re all dilemmas for us and as I’ve talked about the full backs they need to be adjusted and changed because of their work ethic and the meterage of high speed running.

"We need to keep going though and see if the luck can change.”

Following that defeat to Reading, Blackburn remain 15th in the Championship table, 11 points clear of the relegation zone, ahead of their trip to The Den to face Millwall at the weekend.

The Verdict

An injury to Armstrong is surely just about the last thing Rovers need right now.

When you are in as bad a run as Mowbray's side are, a spell on the sidelines for your top scorer is only going to be a huge blow, and make things so much harder to improve.

Indeed, you feel that is amplified even more with Armstrong and Blackburn, given he is so far ahead of everyone else in the club's individual scoring charts.

As a result, you feel Rovers are going to have to do everything they can not to risk him too much here, and that in itself could be a test in depth for a side that in all honesty, has failed to live up to the expectation it has generated so far this season.