John Eustace is keen to get a response from Blackburn Rovers on Saturday after admitting they dropped below their standards at Coventry City.

It was Rovers' first Championship defeat of the season having been one of only three clubs to reach the seven-game mark. But there was a significant drop-off on Tuesday night and they were deservedly beaten.

Eustace wasn't happy with the manner of the defeat, as much as the result itself. He didn't feel they played with the DNA and courage they have shown in these early parts of the season.

Whilst a defeat was inevitable at some stage of the season, the Rovers head coach wants to see a performance that is more befitting of what his group is about at Home Park this weekend.

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"The Championship is a very difficult league. You can see when we're not where we should be and you get punished," he explained.

"It's important to be competitive in every game. I don't care about losing games if we do it our way. 

"We didn't do that on Tuesday, our DNA and what we're all about as a football club. We have to be committed, hard to play against and be on the front foot and we were off it.

"I think it was evident that wasn't us from the standards we have set. Everyone was very disappointed and now we have to get back to what we're all about.

"It's a good thing we have another game to get it out of our system. We are playing a good team who are playing good football at the moment but we want to do it the Blackburn way."

Typically, when Rovers have had a disappointing setback under Eustace, they have produced a response. Whilst this was not at the same level, the Bristol City defeat last year instantly sticks out in the mind.

They responded by winning at Elland Road. Eustace will hope that they can produce a similar reaction this time around.

How he gets that from the players can differ based on the moment. He is not afraid of handing out dressing-downs in the changing rooms but, equally, that is not always his style.

"It depends on what the moment needs as to how you react. Sometimes you need to go in and act like that but other times, you have to look at it with a different mindset," he said.

"It's all about timing and the feeling on the day. Sometimes I shout, sometimes I don't.

"It's about learning all the time. We're learning from every game. It was very evident we were a bit off the pace and when you are, you're going to get punished.

"With the ball, we weren't our normal selves and you get punished. We didn't have the quality with the ball and when we won the ball back it was very loose.

"Defensively, we were passive at times. It highlights that we're a good team when we're very connected as a group. We just didn't have the connection on Tuesday which was a shame.

Rovers will be with much of the same group on Saturday with no fresh injuries reported by the head coach. Callum Brittain has trained but it still feels unlikely that he'll be involved.

"It's much the same as Tuesday, Callum (Brittain) has been on the grass again today which is great," Eustace relayed.

"We'll wait and see with him. We've got the international break which will be good to assess where the squad is from an injury point of view.

"There have been a lot of knocks in the last few games. It'll be nice to give the boys a bit of a rest so we're fully read when we come back in."