Blackburn Rovers’ recent play has seen them fall into the Championship relegation zone, with off-field troubles also affecting morale at Ewood Park. According to reports, head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson is considering leaving the Lancashire club after the botched sale of Orlando City attacker Duncan McGuire on deadline day due to an administrative blunder.
The Lancashire Telegraph also reported that the Dane might depart the club before their match against Stoke City this weekend, which would be a major blow to their survival chances. Furthermore, Rovers suffered a crushing defeat to fellow relegation hopefuls Queens Park Rangers over the weekend, with top scorer Sammie Szmodics limping off with an injury late in the game as issues at Ewood Park worsened.
Sammie Szmodics’ recent injury might have a big impact on Blackburn’s survival chances.
While the defeat to QPR was a cruel blow, top scorer Szmodics was forced to withdraw late in the game due to an injury. The 28-year-old walked off in the final five minutes of the match at Ewood Park, signalling to the bench that he needed to go with his team pursuing an equaliser, although the nature of his injury is yet to be revealed.
Szmodics has scored 21 goals in all competitions this season, frequently coming to Rovers’ assistance when goals were in short supply, and you believe that if he is absent for an extended length of time, the Lancashire club will be dragged deeper into the relegation struggle.
When you look around the Rovers group and where the goals could come from, it’s impossible to imagine how they’d function without their star player. While Tyrhys Dolan’s recent comeback adds pace and dynamism in the last third, they still need someone to score at a critical juncture in the season, which McGuire would have provided.
Their FA Cup victory against Wrexham last month was hailed as a potential turning point in the season, reigniting optimism among Rovers’ ranks, but that has yet to happen. Rovers have a number of vital meetings in February against teams also embroiled in the relegation battle, beginning with Stoke City and continuing to the West Midlands to face Birmingham City.
Despite no word on the seriousness of Szmodics’ injury, Rovers fans will be hoping their number eight is available, but may be concerned if he is not, given the importance of their next fixtures.
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