ELLIOTT Ward’s polished performance on his Blackburn Rovers bow came as no surprise to his manager.

Ward made his first senior appearance in nearly four months in last Saturday’s 3-0 FA Cup victory at Oxford United.

But the experienced defender belied his lack of game time to help Rovers keep their first clean sheet in eight matches.

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Ward was handed his debut after Paul Lambert chose to rest captain Grant Hanley’s first-choice centre-back partner Shane Duffy.

Duffy is not long back from a groin injury, which had seemed set to rule him out long term, and he is also just two bookings away from a two-game ban.

The Republic of Ireland is expected to go straight back into the starting line-up for Saturday’s Championship clash at Middlesbrough.

But Rovers boss Lambert admits that Ward, a free transfer arrival from Bournemouth last month, has given him a selection poser.

“But I’d rather have that than not,” said Lambert of the 31-year-old, who has impressed his team-mates on the training ground.

“Wardy is very experienced and a good player. He’s a terrific reader of the game, a terrific passer of the ball, and he sees danger. I knew exactly what we would get from him. He gives you composure.

“Him and Grant were very good. I left Shane out because of the eight bookings thing, plus he’s had a lot of games, and he’s recently had that injury. It was big performance.”