AMONG the pride and delight at a job well done, you would not have blamed Blackburn Rovers’ Anfield heroes had their overriding feeling on Sunday night being one of tiredness, such was the prodigious shift they put in to keep the club’s Wembley dreams alive.

And no two players summed up Rovers’ unstinting commitment to Gary Bowyer’s perfectly constructed game plan more than defensive midfielders Corry Evans and Lee Williamson.

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They were given the thankless task of keeping Liverpool’s main creative forces, the magical Philippe Coutinho and the gifted Adam Lallana, under lock and key.

Many had tried, and failed, before them, but the industrious duo did just that, as Rovers earned a thoroughly deserved 0-0 draw and a money-spinning replay at Ewood Park.

But before then there is the little matter of five Championship matches to take care of, the first of which comes at home to neighbours Bolton Wanderers.

Evans insists he and his Rovers team-mates will have recovered from Sunday’s exertions by the time they take to the field tonight.

But the former Manchester United man admits the Liverpool quarter-final tie took it him out of him mentally as much as it did physically.

“You know you have to be concentrated at all times because of the quality they have,” said Evans, whose performance, alongside that of Williamson’s, was hailed by former Reds defender and now Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher.

“If you switch off they will bomb by you or they will get into spaces where you can’t get near them.

“That was our game plan to try and nullify their two main attacking players and stop them getting in those spaces – and it worked because we got a clean sheet.

“We did a fair share of running between us, as did the whole team, but it’s a strange one, you’re probably mentally more tired from concentrating so much, whereas in the Championship it’s more physical and it’s a lot more running, so it’s different way of being tired.

“But we’ve had a couple of days to rest and recover, training was good today, everyone was sharp, and now we’re looking forward to the Bolton game.”

Rovers boss Bowyer accepts the sheer amount of effort that went into Sunday’s Liverpool match may mean he has to freshen up his starting line-up tonight where possible.

But he has no worries that his side, who have not had a midweek off since January, can cope with their demanding schedule.

“These players are battle hardened now and are ready for the Championship and ready for playing every Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday,” said Bowyer, whose squad will be stretched tonight with Alex Baptiste and Jay Spearing ineligible and captain Grant Hanley, Shane Duffy, Jason Lowe, David Dunn and Josh King injured.

“It feels like we’ve been playing Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday for the last four months.

“But from the players’ point of view, that’s great, because all they want to do is play games.

“We’re ready for it. We might have to freshen one or two up but we’ve got a squad, which is stretched this week, and whoever gets the shirt will have to continue with the way the lads have been performing.”