Max Sanders celebrated his comeback with a first half double - but it was not enough to give Albion under-23s victory at Blackburn Rovers.

The Seagulls missed the chance to reduce the gap to leaders Everton to two points as they let slip a 2-0 lead at the interval to draw 2-2 at the Leyland County Ground.

Simon Rusk's youngsters remain four points behind Everton, who were held to a 0-0 draw by Arsenal, with three games to go in Premier League 2 Division one.

Albion's penultimate fixture is a table-topping showdown against the Merseysiders.

Skipper Sanders returned from missing the last two league games.

The midfielder headed in a Viktor Gyokeres cross to give Albion a 14th minute lead.

Sanders was on target again in the 28th minute. He bent in a left-foot shot from the edge of the box via a post from Bojan Radulovic's neat flick.

Albion were on course at that stage for a fifth win out of seven during a seven-match unbeaten sequence.

Jack Vale halved their advantage two minutes into the restart with a volley that took a deflection.

Rovers, promoted with the Seagulls last season, levelled 18 minutes from time with a long range strike by Harry Chapman.

Albion (4-3-3): Sanchez; A. Davies, Ostigard, O'Hora (Collar 80), Cochrane; Roberts, Sanders, Molumby (Longman 86); Ahannach, Radulovic (J.Davies 69), Gyokeres.

Subs: Collings, Moore.