BLACKBURN (AFP) - DR Congo striker Shabani Nonda faces an anxious wait to discover whether he has a future at Blackburn - despite scoring a crucial second away goal in the English club´s 3-2 UEFA Cup defeat at Bayer Leverkusen.

Nonda came off the bench in Germany on Wednesday night to score the 86th-minute goal that leaves Mark Hughes´s team needing to win next Thursday´s second-leg by just one goal to seal a last 16 clash with either RC Lens of France or Greek giants Panathinaikos next month.

The former Monaco forward is currently on a season-long loan at Premiership Blackburn from Italian club AS Roma, but manager Hughes admitted after Nonda´s late goal in the BayArena that he has yet to decide whether to make a permanent move for the player.

He said: "We have an option to sign Shabani permanently, but a decision hasn´t been made at the moment. It is something that will be addressed at the end of the season.

"But his goal against Leverkusen was very important for us. At 3-1, it would have been far more difficult in the second-leg, but the second goal from Shabani gives us a real chance."

Nonda has impressed at Ewood Park this season, forming a 21-goal partnership with South African striker Benni McCarthy.

But while McCarthy has produced the lion´s share of those goals by providing 15 strikes, Nonda´s presence and physical strength has helped the former Porto and Ajax forward adjust to the tougher demands of the Premiership.

Former Arsenal youngster David Bentley rivalled Leverkusen´s Bernd Schneider as the most impressive player on the pitch.

The 23-year-old has been strongly tipped to win an England call-up this season and Hughes admits that his European experience will add to his quality.

He said: "David is playing well at the moment and he is a player of great potential. He is gaining crucial experience of European football as well, so it is only going to help him as a player.

"I thought he was unfortunate not to get a call-up when England played Spain last week, but I´m sure the call will come if he continues to produce the form he is doing at the moment."

Leverkusen had dominated throughout and coach Michael Skibbe admitted Nonda´s late goal was a blow to his team´s hopes of progress in the tournament.

Skibbe said: "For long parts of the game, we were the stronger side and we looked more technically able. I don´t think that we took our foot off the gas and I felt that we were in control until the 86th minute. In my opinion, it looked more likely that we would make it 4-1 rather than Blackburn score a second.

"But I am looking forward to next week´s second-leg and I still believe that we have an excellent chance of progressing into the next stage."

Rovers boss Hughes added: "We created some really good opportunities, especially in the first-half, and that is a positive against a team like Leverkusen.

"But we were lacking physically due to the players that were unavailable to us. Some of those will be back next week, though, and I´m sure we will produce a different performance."