BLACKBURN Rovers boss Paul Lambert bemoaned the ‘really poor’ defending which denied his badly out-of-form side a morale-boosting victory.

Rovers took control of yesterday’s 2-2 home draw with Bristol City after man-of-the-match Danny Graham notched the first of his two expertly taken goals.

But they fell behind after Jonathan Kodjia and Aaron Wilbraham struck during a horror five-minute second-half spell.

Graham equalised to ensure Rovers did not slump to a fourth successive home league loss for the first time since October 2003.

And Elliott Ward and Ben Marshall saw chances come and go late on after Robins midfielder Korey Smith was sent off for pushing Grant Hanley in the face.

But Rovers were unable to force a winner and as a result they slipped to 18th after a sixth game without a victory.

Lambert said: “I thought the first half we were excellent. Some of the football we played was very good and I thought we should have been a couple of goals up.

“Danny scored an absolute fantastic goal for us and we looked really comfortable.

“But then we had that 10-minute spell in the second half where Bristol City got two goals against us. I thought the defending was really poor at that point.

“But we managed to get back into it and I think it would have been an injustice if we had lost that game.

 “I thought the first half was as well as we’ve played for a few weeks and I thought we looked really threatening every time.

Lancashire Telegraph:

“But we lost two poor goals down our left-hand side. That was disappointing.

“We had a lot of pressure against the 10 men and I thought Wardy should have pulled the trigger when he was running across the box but it never materialised being a centre-half.”

Rovers have now taken just six points from the last 27 on offer after winning one, drawing three and losing five of their last nine outings.

But they are mathematically safe from the drop after third-from-bottom MK Dons joined Charlton Athletic and Bolton Wanderers in relegation.

The Dons’ 4-1 home defeat to Brentford also guaranteed City’s survival at the first time of asking after winning League One last season.

And the Robins’ 5ft 6in boss Lee Johnson, who returned to Ashton Gate in February to take over the managerial reins, said: “We started quite well in the first 15 minutes, camped them in and had a couple of chances, and then I thought they really got a foothold in the game and we got a bit stretched.

“At half-time, there had to be a midget hair-dryer or two because it was important we livened them up. They had to dig deep and they did.

“We helped them tactically by changing the formation to a diamond. We put Jimmy Jonathan Kodjia on, we put Luke Ayling on, we put Alex Pearce on and they had an effect.

“They brought us a brightness and an energy that helped us move up the pitch, put an extra pass in and score two great goals.”