Blackburn Rovers have suffered another blow with the news that defender Scott Dann has been ruled out of action for six weeks after he ruptured a testicle.
PA PhotosScott Dann scored an equaliser for Blackburn but it was not enough.
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Dann has been a vital part of the Rovers defence with injuries to Chris Samba and Ryan Nelsen in recent weeks. But, despite scoring as they slipped to a 2-1 defeat to West Bromwich Albion at Ewood Park at the weekend, the former Birmingham centre-back has been forced onto the sidelines until Feburary.
Manager Steve Kean told ESPNsoccernet in an exclusive one on one interview: “Our physio cannot believe it. He has two players out with problems that he has never come across before in all of his years experience. Scott Dann has come in and played so well to replace Phil Jones, but in our last match he was hurt and it now transpires he will be out for six weeks with a ruptured testicle.
The club also revealed that left-back Gael Givet will be out for a few weeks after suffering palpitations and undergoing minor heart surgery, while Martin Olsson and Michel Salgado are still injured.
“Givet needs heart surgery as he was suffering with 300 beats a minute, and again our physio hadn’t come across anything like that,” Kean added. “We have had problems all season, notably with our back four and now have a winger Morten Gamst Pedersen playing at left-back.”
Meanwhile, captain Samba has attempted to take some of the pressure off beleaguered boss Kean by insisting that the players are to blame for the club’s slump.
Blackburn are now four points off safety and Kean has come under fire again with protests against his tenure a regular occurrence. However, Samba says it is not down to the boss.
“We are not here to discuss the manager. He is doing his job and trying to lift us. But the players are responsible – we are on the pitch,” he said. “It is our job. It is too easy to blame the manager. We were not good enough. As a team we have not proved we are good enough to stay in the league at the moment.
“We are devastated. We are so low. The mood in the dressing room is down. We have let our fans down a little bit by our performance. We need to give them something to cheer. It was not just the defeat, but it was a bad way to lose.”