BLACKBURN Rovers boss Paul Lambert admits Tommy Spurr has given him a selection problem.

Spurr was preferred to reigning player of the year Markus Olsson in Tuesday’s 1-1 home draw with QPR.

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And the left-back impressed Lambert in his first appearance under the new Rovers manager.

So much so that the Scot is giving serious consideration to keeping faith with Spurr and keeping Olsson on the bench for this Saturday’s home clash with Brighton & Hove Albion.

“I thought Tommy Spurr was excellent,” said Lambert, who would have started Spurr in last Saturday’s postponed FA Cup tie at Newport County.

“I made the decision to go with Tommy because I had to see him play and give him a fair crack at it.

“And I thought he was outstanding. Some of his delivery into the penalty area was excellent and I thought he thoroughly deserved his man-of-the-match award.

“So it gives me that little bit of a problem of having two good left-backs.”

Lambert has made it he needs to strengthen all areas of his squad if Rovers are to compete at the top end of the Championship.

But he is pleased with the competition Ben Marshall has brought to the right-back position.

When Lambert took charge of Rovers he stated he wanted to play the winger higher up the pitch than his predecessor Gary Bowyer.

But, after selecting Marshall ahead of Adam Henley for the second game running, he said: “Since Ben’s gone back to right-back I think he’s played exceptionally well for us so it’s up to Adam to try to dislodge him as well.

“Ben has got that creativity we need but when he plays right-back he’s got the game in front of him and that opens things up for him. I thought he was excellent.”

Hope Akpan’s 85th-minute equaliser ended Rovers’ runs of three straight defeats and four games without a goal.

But they will go into the match with Brighton, another side who have suffered a sharp decline in the last month, having taken two points from the last possible 15.

Their opponents, however, are in even worse form.

The Seagulls were joint top with current pacesetters Middlesbrough after a 20-match unbeaten start to the season.

But they have slipped to sixth and 11 points behind the summit after taking one point from the last possible 18.

And Chris Hughton’s side will arrive at Ewood Park having failed to score in six full games and 542 minutes of football.

Rovers, though, have injury concerns at centre-back.

Matt Kilgallon underwent a scan on the hip injury that ruled him out against QPR.

And, while the results showed no serious damage, Kilgallon is unlikely to be fit to face Brighton.

That means Lambert could be down to one recognised senior centre-back if Shane Duffy fails to recover from the groin injury that forced him off on Tuesday.

Duffy, who up until that point was the only Rovers player to play every minute of the league season, is hoping to recover in time to take on the Seagulls.

And Lambert, who was forced to move midfielder Darragh Lenihan into the backline, said: “It was a massive blow to lose Shane because I thought he was outstanding.

“We’ll have to assess him to see how he is. It looks like a groin injury at this minute in time and hopefully it’s not too bad.”

On Kilgallon, Lambert added: “He went for a scan and it doesn’t seem as bad as what we thought.

“The problem is Matty feels good when he walks around, it’s when he actually strikes a ball that he feels it.

“I know Darragh can play there and I thought he played well when he dropped back in there but I think he can be a really good midfielder.

“Depending on how long Shane or Matty are out, it’s an area we’ll have to look at.”