91Èȱ¬

Blackburn caretaker manager Gary Bowyer has urged his players to remain calm after they slipped firmly into the Championship relegation battle.

Monday's 3-0 defeat at leaders Cardiff City left Rovers level on points with third-bottom Huddersfield Town.

Speaking to 91Èȱ¬ Radio Lancashire, Bowyer said: "We can't get excited if we pick up a couple of wins because it's going to go right to the wire.

"We've just got to remain calm and positive, and keep going."

Blackburn are expected to be without 22-year-old goalkeeper Jake Kean, who was stretchered off with a knee injury early in the second half at Cardiff, for the remainder of the season.

The form of youngster Kean, who replaced ex-England international Paul Robinson as first-choice keeper in December, has been one of the few bright spots for Rovers since the turn of the year.

And on-loan striker DJ Campbell has returned to QPR for treatment on a broken foot, which has prematurely ended his campaign.

The 31-year-old failed to score in any of his seven appearances for Rovers, the last of which came at Bolton on 5 March.

Blackburn, who sacked manager Michael Appleton on 19 March, have failed to win any of their last nine league matches.

But they lost for the first time in six outings under reserve-team coach Bowyer, who has been placed in temporary charge of the side for the second time this season.

"It doesn't feel very nice [to experience defeat] and the players didn't like the feeling after the game," added Bowyer.

"We said at half-time that the standard of our play was not to the level that they can perform.

"We had more of a go at it in the second half and with a couple of minutes to go we were still in it. The second goal [from Joe Mason] was a sucker punch."