MARK Hughes has told Robbie Savage he cannot expect to walk straight back into the first team.

The former Welsh international has been an unused substitute in each of Rovers' last three league games, even though he is now fully fit again following minor surgery on a knee injury.

But although Savage is believed to be frustrated by his enforced spell on the sidelines, Hughes has warned the midfielder no-one is guaranteed a starting place at the club and he may have to patiently wait for his chance.

"Robbie obviously wants to play every week and I understand that," said Hughes, who has preferred to use Aaron Mokoena as his midfield enforcer in the games against Fulham, Aston Villa and Newcastle United.

"Certain people take not being in the side in an easier way than other players.

"Robbie is fit, he's available and he's ready to play.

"But at the moment, with both him and Steven Reid on the bench, I'm conscious of the fact I need to give Steven more game time so when I do make a change, it's invariably Reidy who I pick to go on, just because he needs that at this moment in time.

"Aaron (Mokoena) has also been fine for me, and Tugay as well - he scored at the weekend.

"So if players go out of the side, they can't expect to go straight back in, they have to be patient.

"Sav understands that, even though he's a little bit more impatient than others.

"But he knows he will get games here, and he's a big part of what we are trying to do."

Savage returned quicker than expected from the knee injury he suffered against Tottenham Hotspur at the end of October, but he has failed to figure in any of the games since he declared himself fit again, Hughes deciding instead to start with Mokoena and then give Reid more game-time from the bench as he steps up his own comeback following a 15-month absence.

Being a man who wears his heart on his sleeve, Savage has found that situation hard to stomach, because the disappointment of being left out of the side hits him harder than most.

Yet it remains to be seen whether the 33-year-old will win a recall for Sunday's clash with West Ham at Ewood.

Meanwhile, Hughes has called on his players to take confidence from last week's 3-1 home victory over Newcastle.

After suffering a 4-0 mauling to Aston Villa, Rovers showed great character to bounce straight back with a morale-boosting victory against a Newcastle side that, subsequently, managed to take a point off the league leaders, Arsenal, in midweek.

"I think Newcastle came and showed a lot of passion, a lot of commitment, and we were able to deal with it," reflected Hughes.

"We shouldn't underestimate how well we played against them, because they had their backs to the wall and they had to come out fighting, which they did.

"From our point of view, we just want to keep going now because we've had a great start (to the season).

"We had a blip against Villa but then bounced straight back, which was pleasing.

"Obviously, we were disappointed, not so much with the performance but the level of the scoreline (against Villa), because 4-0 doesn't look great.

"We needed to bounce back immediately from that and, thankfully, we did.

"I thought we showed great determination, certainly after conceding the opening goal in the game, and I've been pleased with our response when we've gone behind in games this season - I think we've been better in that respect."