FORMER club captain Garry Flitcroft insists Blackburn Rovers must resolve their differences with Chris Samba immediately or face a daunting task in avoiding Premier League relegation.
Samba has not been involved in any of Blackburn’s last five matches, including Saturday’s 7-1 thrashing at the hands of Arsenal, and last month spoke publicly of his desire to quit Ewood Park.
Despite a lack of first-team action, the wantaway skipper was initially included in a provisional reserve squad that hosted Carlisle United in a behind-closed-doors game yesterday.
However, the 27-year-old did not play in the match that finished 3-3 at Brockhall.
His non-appearance may suggest he is now not ready for Saturday’s crucial visit of fellow Premier League strugglers QPR, and manager Steve Kean admitted after the weekend’s loss at Arsenal that he “has no idea” whether Samba will be in his squad to take on the Hoops.
It is a situation which has left ex-Rovers skipper Flitcroft fearful for his former club, with their top-flight status under threat with little over a third of the campaign remaining.
Flitcroft suffered relegation with Blackburn back in 1999, but believes there is enough quality in this current Rovers crop to survive the drop, so long as Samba is back on the team-sheet.
“It’s got to be for the good of the club that Chris Samba is back out on the pitch,” said the 39-year-old. “It’s up to Chris and Steve Kean to sort things out.
“He’s missed the last couple of matches and it’s showing. Rovers have lacked his drive and presence throughout the entire team.
“For me, he’s one of the first names on the teamsheet. He’s got to be out there helping the younger lads.
“Fair play to some of the young lads, they’ve pushed into the first team and done quite well in difficult circumstances.
“But there’s occasions, like against Arsenal, where you need your best players and Chris comes into that category.”
Chris Samba
Flitcroft added: “It shows when he plays for Blackburn that he gives everything. He’s a big presence on the pitch and in the dressing room.
“I’m sure his absence will have had a bearing on team spirit. There’s been a number of players that have left the club this season, but missing Chris on the pitch seems to be biggest blow of them all.”
Samba has been banished to the club’s reserves since insisting last month that it “will be very difficult” for him to play for Rovers again, and having submitted a transfer request that was rejected.
He accused owners Venky’s of breaking promises made to him when he signed his last contract and said the club did not meet his ambitions.
While understanding Samba’s concerns, Flitcroft believes the Congo defender must honour his contract and put his grievances to one side for the good of the club.
“I think it works two ways,” said the former midfielder, now the manager of non-league Chorley.
“When he signed his new contract, Chris said he was told that a lot of big name players were going to be bought and I can understand why he’d be upset that they’ve not come in.
“He’s thinking that once the new owners come in, that new players will arrive and the club will be heading in an upwards direction. I can see where he is coming from.
“But by the same token he’s contracted to play football for Blackburn Rovers and, no matter how he feels about things, he’s paid good money to represent the club on the football pitch.
“The captaincy is a big privilege. From my point of view, it was the greatest moment of my career to captain Rovers. I’m sure Chris Samba thinks like that as well.”
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Blackburn manager Steve Kean expects to reconcile with wantaway captain Chris Samba but has revealed the defender will miss Saturday’s visit of QPR due to injury.
The 27-year-old has been training with the reserves since he handed in a transfer request last month and has been a vocal critic over what he perceives as Venky’s lack of ambition since they took control of Blackburn.
Samba was set to face Carlisle in a reserve game on Tuesday in a bid to increase his match-time only for a hamstring injury to derail his progress.
However, despite the setback, Kean insists his skipper remains focused on putting all the negative feeling behind him and playing his way back into the first XI.
“We want to get Chris back on the pitch and make sure he’s in the proper physical state,” Kean said.
“His actions as far as coming in and training – he trained really well on Monday – he’s been in, he’s been around the place but what happened and what was said in the window he can put behind him.
“I can only take his enthusiasm and application in the sessions and that was excellent on Monday and that’s the last session he’s had, unfortunately.
“After the session, Chris felt a sensation in his hamstring and was getting a bit of back pain so because of that injury he didn’t manage to play in the game.
“He has been getting treatment on his hamstring and back ever since, so unfortunately he’s not available.
“I’m sure once we can get this injury he’s got cleared up he’ll be back on the pitch with the reserves to get some minutes under his belt because we want to get him back as quickly as possible.
“We’ve got to make sure that when he’s feeling any niggles like this he gets it right and he’s in good hands with our medical team.
“There’s another reserve game on Monday and if he can make that and get some minutes under his belt fantastic, if not, we move on.”
In better news for Kean ahead of this weekend’s clash with QPR, striker Ayegbeni Yakubu is set to return after a three-match suspension.
Yakubu, top scorer at the club this season, missed out on the Barclays Premier League games against Everton, Newcastle and Arsenal – a run from which Rovers picked up only one point and as a result slipped further down the standings.
Blackburn are now second bottom following last Saturday’s 7-1 thrashing by Arsenal but are only three points behind Mark Hughes’ QPR, who are two places above the relegation zone.
With fellow strugglers Bolton and Wigan facing each other on Saturday, Kean admits securing three points on Saturday against Rangers is crucial, and believes his side have learned their lessons.
“You get in off the back of a [7-1] result – that’s a tough one to take, with the number of goals that we conceded and a man sent off – but really it’s the first time we’ve been turned over and turned over good and proper,” he said.
“I felt it was important not to brush that under the carpet, so we pulled that game to bits.
“We’ve been focused on the work that had to be done so we’re sure we addressed what we felt were the problems in that game and I’m absolutely delighted with the way the lads have responded because we’ve been in all week – there’s been no day off for the lads.
“The number of sessions we’ve put in and the intensity they’ve put in, their response and their appetite to get that game out of their system has been fantastic so it’s been a real positive week.
“Everyone in and around us plays each other so it’s a real big weekend.
“It’s going to be a tough game for QPR off the back of what we’ve been doing this week and we felt that we let ourselves down against Arsenal.
“We’ll be setting the record straight and getting out of the blocks and making it tough for QPR.”