BLACKBURN Rovers boss Gary Bowyer said ‘big moments’ were the deciding factor in his side’s 1-0 loss at high-flying Brighton & Hove Albion yesterday.

Kazenga Lua Lua’s 35th-minute strike, which was deflected past David Raya by Grant Hanley after Shane Duffy had slipped, condemned winless Rovers to a defeat that leaves them third from bottom after four Championship matches.

But they had ample opportunity to take at least a point from the hard-fought Amex clash with Craig Conway and Nathan Delfouneso squandering gilt-edged chances and Shane Duffy going close with two headers after Fode Koita had forced a fine early save from David Stockdale.

Bowyer said: “The first 20-25 minutes we were very good and we should have been 2-0 up.

“Their goalkeeper produced two very good saves and then you look at the manner of their goal, it’s a slip from one of the defenders and then it’s took a deflection.

“So to go in 1-0 down was very harsh on us but I thought we carried on, kept rallying, and Nathan Delfouneso had a great chance.

“It’s the big moments and I think that’s been the crucial thing for us today – the big moments have not gone our way.”

Bowyer was speaking before reports emerged that he had been sacked – reports the club later stated to be ‘totally untrue and without foundation’.

Rovers, having travelled with 19 players, could name only six substitutes after Adam Henley and Jason Lowe were taken ill overnight.

They were also without strikers Jordan Rhodes and Chris Brown and Bowyer said that was the reason why he chose to throw Duffy up front for the final 11 minutes of the game.

The centre-back, having earlier had a header cleared off the line, then looped another over.

Bowyer said: “We lost two players through sickness and diarrhoea over night.

“Unfortunately they’ve had to be sent home and that meant we could only put six subs on the bench.

“That’s where we’re at, at this moment in time, in terms of the embargo. If we could come out of it, it would help us in terms of improving the squad and making that bigger.

“With the options that we had we thought we’d put big Duffers up there. He’d had one header cleared off the line and, at the end, it’s just that little bit of luck you need to see it nestle in the goal, rather than clipping the bar and going over.

“We’re ruing missed chances.”

While the loss dropped Rovers down into the relegation places, unbeaten Brighton’s third win in four matches hauled them up to second in the early standings.

Their manager Hughton said: “We were not at our best but our defence was strong and resilient.

“Our keeper pulled off some really important saves and at this moment we are doing okay.

“The encouraging thing is that, although we didn't play particularly well, we are winning games.

“We were not at our best on a hot afternoon.”