Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Plymouth Argyle: Sammie Szmodics strikes again as 10-man Rovers draw

Championship hot-shots Sammie Szmodics and Morgan Whittaker were both on target as Plymouth Argyle hit back to deny 10-man Blackburn a first win under John Eustace.

Argyle, beaten in four of their past five league games, dominated possession and created several fine openings and their chances were greatly boosted nine minutes into the second half when Kyle McFadzean saw red for a professional foul on Ryan Hardie.

Plymouth's pressure finally told when Whittaker grabbed his 18th goal of the campaign, pushing the ball home from close range after Hardie's strike was blocked.

The visitors desperately sought a winner without success, but remain level on points with Rovers, who are yet to win in eight games under Eustace.

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A battling Rovers side survived 20 minutes with 10 men, and a fifth draw in seven home fixtures will probably seem like a point gained despite having led when Szmodics put them ahead in style.

The striker took a fine first touch from Yasin Ayari's zipped pass and found the bottom corner with his second for his fourth goal in four games.

Argyle were the better side thereafter, Mustapha Bundu shooting wide from the edge of the box and the menacing Hardie going close on three occasions.

Blackburn could have doubled their lead but Arnor Sigurdsson was unlucky to see his strike hit the angle of post and crossbar after great work by Szmodics.

McFadzean's red card for felling Hardie 30 yards from goal when the last man in defence renewed Plymouth's hopes just as Rovers seemed set to hold out.

But Whittaker denied the hosts a 12th win of the season, with a point apiece moving both sides three clear of the relegation zone.

Blackburn boss John Eustace told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"We started the game really well, played some fantastic football and scored a really good goal and had a great chance to go 2-0 up which we didn't take and Plymouth then had a couple of good chances.

"We started the second half quite well but going down to 10 men it's a different game then. The character the group showed, the togetherness and fight not to lose the game was very evident for everyone to see.

"There are big positives to take out with the way we stuck together against a good attacking team and limited them to hardly anything in the second half - just one or two chances. And we were always a threat on the break.

"The fans were magnificent. A win would make everyone feel better of course, but we can't get too disappointed that we haven't won. I am very proud.

Plymouth head coach Ian Foster:

"A lot of people will look at the game, see the result, see the sending off and think we've only scored because they've been reduced to 10 men. Before their goal and after their goal, we've dominated the game, literally from start to finish.

"The whole 95 minutes we've been the team on top - 20 shots away from home, our xG is through the roof and the only disappointment that we go away with is that we haven't converted all those chances, or some of them.

"I'm really proud of the players. We picked the team today to dominate the ball. We felt that we could here and we did that - 66% I think in the first half.

"I've never witnessed a team 1-0 up at half-time getting booed off. That just shows you the dominance we had in the first 45 minutes.

"The players continued to knock on the door and we eventually got what we deserved. We're all that little bit disappointed to come away with just the one point."