TONY Mowbray says he won’t jeopardise Corry Evans’ return from a long-standing groin injury by rushing back the Blackburn Rovers midfielder.

Evans is back at Rovers after a week away with Northern Ireland but he didn’t feature in the World Cup qualifying win over Norway on Sunday.

The midfielder struggled to train with his international team-mates because of the groin injury which has seen him make just one substitute appearance in 2017.

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He scored in his one Under-23s outing to date, in the 4-1 defeat to Middlesbrough on March 13, but those 45 minutes are the only action he has tasted as part of his rehabilitation.

Mowbray revealed he had no problem with Evans being called up by his country but the 26-year-old is now back at Brockhall and hoping to push his claims for a return to action when Rovers make the trip to Brighton on Saturday.

“He’s a really talented boy who could really help our team, but at the same time it’s not a rush for us,” Mowbray said.

“We have to make sure that we don’t jeopardise his comeback by over-usage, overplaying him, and rushing him back.

“He is back for a full week heading in to the weekend at Brighton.”

Mowbray was hoping that a spell away with his country, and a fresh environment, could boost Evans’ hopes of a return.

He has featured just 19 of Rovers’ 38 Championship games this season, while he missed 16 games of the last campaign with the same injury.

Northern Ireland boss O’Neill admitted that despite calling Evans up to his squad for the Norway qualifier, it was always unlikely that he would see any game-time.

Evans spent much of his time away with the medical department, but had trained with Rovers for much of the previous week before going away on international duty.

O’Neill said: “As usual Corry was very keen to play.

“He’d only played 45 minutes with the reserves so it’s been a long time for him.

“We knew bringing him that he wouldn’t be fit to start the game.”

Rovers will also check on the fitness of top scorer Danny Graham as he also struggles with a groin injury which has seen him undergo surgery during the international break.

Head coach Mowbray expects the 31-year-old to miss Saturday’s trip to the AMEX Stadium.