BLACKBURN Rovers boss Gary Bowyer says some of his players may have played their way out of his starting line-up for the FA Cup quarter-final replay with Liverpool.

Bowyer cut a deeply disappointed figure after Rovers went down to a dreary 1-0 home defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.

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It was their third loss in the last four matches at Ewood Park and it has left them 12 points behind the play-off places with seven games of the Championship campaign to play.

Bowyer, however, refuses to give up on the possibility of a top-six finish.

And, with the return clash with Liverpool to come next month, that is why he insists there is still ‘a hell of a lot to play for’.

But he admits the sorry first-half showing against the Seagulls will come into his thinking when selecting his side for a match on which Rovers’ season now realistically rests.

“There’s still a hell of a lot left to play for and that’s what we’ve said to the players,” said Bowyer, who could understand why boos accompanied the half-time and full-time whistles.

“We’ve got seven more games in the league and a fantastic quarter-final replay.

“Some of them have played themselves into that team after that performance and some may have played themselves out of it as well.”

Bowyer was without seven first-team players on Saturday after Corry Evans pulled out on the morning of the match with a groin strain.

But, providing he comes through his double header with Northern Ireland unscathed, Evans should be fit by the time Rovers return to action on Saturday week at Roses rivals Leeds United.

Adam Henley and Jordan Rhodes will also join up with their international teams this week.

And Bowyer, who hopes Craig Conway, Grant Hanley, David Dunn and Josh King will be closer to fitness by the time of the Elland Road encounter, said: “We will use this break wisely, recover and hopefully have one or two more options for the run-in.”

Bowyer will also attempt to bolster his squad before the emergency loan window closes on Thursday.

Although Doneil Henry has returned to West Ham United after sustaining a season-ending hamstring injury, Rovers have space for just one signing, either on loan or on a free transfer, under the rules of their embargo for failing Financial Fair Play.

“That’s the frustration of the restrictions that we are under,” said Bowyer.

“We understood that we could not spend money with the embargo but it’s just pinched us a little bit in terms of loans.

“We’ve got to try and get the one in that we can.

“But we’ve got to make sure it’s the right one in the sense of the positions specific for us.

“It’s all right wanting an attacking one if you see how stretched we are in the defensive unit at this moment in time.”

Rovers striker Luke Varney’s one-month loan at Championship rivals Ipswich Town runs out today.

But Bowyer expects the Tractor Boys to extend it until the end of the campaign.