BEN Marshall’s reward for fighting back to full fitness faster than expected could be a place in the Blackburn Rovers matchday squad for tomorrow’s final game of the campaign.

Marshall was initially told that he would not play again this season after he sustained ankle ligament damage in the 1-1 draw at home to Derby County on January 25.

But the 23-year-old winger, who was in fantastic form when his campaign was cut short, has impressed Rovers boss Gary Bowyer and his medical team with the determination he has shown to be back in time for tomorrow’s visit of Wigan to Ewood Park.

Bowyer said: “Ben Marshall will be back in the squad.

“Whether he gets on the subs bench, I’m not sure too sure just yet, but he’s certainly back in the squad.

“It would have been very easy for him to take it easy but he has pushed himself beyond his limits to make sure he has got that final place in the squad for the last game of the season.

“That is credit to him and, when we talk about the mentality of the people we have brought into the squad, he epitomises that and we are delighted for him.”

Midfield trio Jason Lowe, David Dunn and Dickson Etuhu have also returned to training ahead of the Latics clash.

That means the only two players unavailable to Bowyer are full backs Tommy Spurr and Adam Henley.

Wigan secured their play-off spot with a 1-0 win at Birmingham City on Tuesday, a result which all but ended Rovers’ hopes of joining them in the top six.

Latics boss Uwe Rosler has confirmed he will rotate his squad for tomorrow’s match, which will be their 60th of a marathon campaign in which they have competed in the Europa League and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

But Bowyer has no doubt the FA Cup holders will still be competitive tomorrow.

He said: “Uwe is fantastic manager, he’s done a great job and his mentality will not allow them to ease up one bit.

“They’ve never used the amount of games they’ve had to play as an excuse and I don’t expect them to start now.”