Outgoing Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray has revealed that January signing Dilan Markanday will return to the matchday squad for the final match of the 2021-22 Championship season against Birmingham City.

Rovers stumped up a £500,000 fee during the mid-season transfer window to bring the 20-year-old in from Premier League outfit Tottenham Hotspur after the forward had scored 12 times in 14 appearances in the under-23's Premier League competition.

Markanday made his debut for Blackburn in an away clash against Hull City on January 19, but disaster struck in his cameo appearance as he suffered damage to his hamstring.

 

 

 

 

Having undergone surgery to correct the issue, Markanday was expected to miss the remainder of the current campaign - however his recovery has been speedier than anticipated.

After returning to training recently, the young winger is ready for match action once again ahead of Blackburn's final game of the season at St. Andrew's on Saturday afternoon, and Mowbray, who will take charge of his last Rovers match, has confirmed that Markanday will play a part.

“He is going to get some game-time," Mowbray said, per the Lancashire Telegraph.

“It’s his decision. What I wouldn’t want to do with Dilan is force him to play a game, but he knocked on my door and said that he feels ready.

“He’s trained for two or three weeks and he looks electric.

“I didn’t want to force him because he feared 20 minutes and pulling his hamstring again, but it was his choice.

“I asked whether he wanted a pre-season but he knocked on my door and said he feels ready, feels good and wants to be involved.

“We won’t start him but we’ll give some game-time.”

The Verdict

There was a lot of hype and intrigue surrounding Markanday when he arrived at Rovers in January, mainly due to his goalscoring record for Tottenham's under-23's and the fact a lot of their fans did not want him to be sold.

It was thought that he could give Blackburn a new spark in the final third for the second half of the season - but he quickly broke down and he hasn't been seen since.

He could have been a useful player to have when Rovers were still going for automatic promotion and then the play-offs, but he is set to return when the club have nothing to play for.

Markanday could show the fans what they have been missing in the cameo he gets this coming weekend, but his main focus should be on the upcoming pre-season considering he's been out for so long.