Winger Elliott Bennett believes Paul Lambert’s tough approach to coaching has helped him improve his form for Blackburn Rovers.

The 27-year-old moved to Ewood Park in January for an undisclosed fee after signing a two-and-a-half-year deal with the Championship outfit.

Bennett linked back up with Lambert after working with him at Norwich but he has conceded that his first few performances for Rovers were “rubbish”.

After being dropped from the team, he has since forced his way back in and is flourishing in a central role under Lambert. Although the former Aston Villa boss’ approach was tough, Bennett insists it has helped him turn his game around in recent weeks.

He told the Lancashire Telegraph: “I think my form has picked up.

“Throughout a season any player will tell you that you’ll have dips and unfortunately I hit a bad run of form when I joined here and I warranted being dropped by the manager.

“I sat on the bench for a few weeks and I thought, ‘come on, I need to start doing it again’. I think that taking me out of the team was a fantastic thing by the manager.

“I’ll be the first to say when I’ve not been good enough and the manager here is as honest as anything and he told me that in no uncertain terms when I got dropped.

“If I didn’t know it already, I knew it then, and it’s something I don’t want to hear too often.”

Bennett is expected to start Tuesday night’s clash against Birmingham City with Rovers the 2.15 favourites. The draw is priced at 3.25 while the Blues are available at odds of 3.60.