Blackburn have now gone eight league games without a win following a 1-0 defeat at Tottenham in which defender Martin Olsson was dismissed for two yellow cards.

Rovers are now second from bottom and boss Paul Ince felt the Swedish defenders dismissal proved crucial.

. "I thought it was very unlucky, we started the game off well to be fair," Ince told the club's official web site.

"I fancied us today, the lads really fancied getting a result here today and it got taken away from us with the sending off.

"The first one is not a booking, with Lennon and his pace, sometimes he tends to over-exaggerate. I don't think Martin has made contact with him. The second booking maybe because he gave the goal away he felt he had to make amends, but it is a yellow card.

"You are disappointed because the decision changes the game.

"The lad is devastated, but he's a very good young player and he'll learn from this and he'll come back better and stronger."

The match saw Rovers fail to win for the eighth game, but Ince has backed the club to come good.

"It was a good battling performance against a good Tottenham side and we have to take heart from that.

"But you've got to be concerned, especially when you've been playing well. I keep saying every week that the performances are good but we aren't getting any points.

"It is a long long way to go, but the good thing is we've got Benni (McCarthy)and Brett (Emerton) back so we are starting to look a little bit stronger.

"It is always hard, the more you keep losing the more it is hard to get that win. But if you are playing well and the performances are good then you hope that you get that win.

"At the end of the day the lads are devastated because they've played well and gave it their all. Every one of them has run their socks off, and that is what it will take to get us up the league."