OWEN Coyle has hinted he will freshen up his attack as Blackburn Rovers look to bounce back from the defeat which ended their mini winning run.

After two successive victories, Rovers slipped back into the relegation places on Tuesday after they went down 1-0 at home to Sheffield Wednesday.

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Coyle insists they did not deserve to lose to last season’s beaten play-off finalists but concedes they lacked the ‘freshness’ they displayed in the wins over Derby and Rotherham.

And the Rovers boss is considering making changes for Saturday’s trip to Birmingham.

It will be Coyle’s side’s seventh game in the space of three weeks and their final outing before the second international break of the season.

When Rovers resume their Championship campaign seven of their next 11 matches will be at Ewood Park.

And Coyle, who has the likes of Danny Graham and Martin Samuelsen pushing for a recall, said after the reverse to the Owls: “Young Sam Gallagher has played a lot of games and Marvin Emnes did little bits and pieces but not to the same effect so maybe it was a game a too far for some of them.

“So that is something we need to look at for Saturday in order to get that freshness and get that energy we have shown of late.

“We have shown when we have that we can win games home and away.

“I was disappointed our unbeaten run ended because I thought we dominated the game in terms of possession without being super sharp.

“I’m not saying we should have had the three points but we certainly didn’t deserve to lose.

“But we’ve got to take our medicine, pick ourselves up like we’ve done before, and look to go and win games again, starting at Birmingham on Saturday.

“If we can do that we know when we get back after the international break we’ve got a run of seven out of 11 games at home and we’ve got to capitalise on that.”

“As much as we weren’t at our best (on Tuesday) I think we’ve shown we can stand toe to toe with some of the best teams in the division.”

Coyle’s attacking options for the clash with high-flying Birmingham will be furthered by the availability of the fit-again Anthony Stokes.

Stokes scored from the penalty spot before being sent off in Rovers Under-23s’ 3-2 win over Wolves at Leyland on Monday.

But, while the striker will have to serve a one-match ban, he will not miss any first-team games.

  • Rovers hold their first of two supporter consultation meetings at Ewood Park tonight.

Items on the agenda include the short and long-term plans owners Venky’s have for the club.

For a full report see Saturday’s Lancashire Telegraph.