Blackburn Rovers defender Darragh Lenihan has stepped up his recovery from injury as he makes it out onto the grass for training.

Blackburn have been without key defender Darragh Lenihan for four games since he was withdrawn from the QPR defeat with a knee injury. The injury was initially set to rule the Irish international out for a few weeks and this looks set to be the case as he begins to train outside on the grass this week.

In his absence, Rovers had struggled to get going until their dramatic late win against Sheffield Wednesday. Blackburn looked set for their third defeat on the bounce without Lenihan in the side after Jacob Murphy’s 83rd-minute goal, but Tony Mowbray’s side rallied with two late goals from Lenihan’s deputy Tosin Adarabioyo and then John Buckley, to win the game 2-1.

Latest footage indicates that Lenihan is close to a full recovery from his knee injury, as he takes part in training with one-to-one support from a coach at Blackburn’s training ground.

The next game for Blackburn is an away trip to Elland Road to face Leeds United. This may be too close a date for Lenihan to make his long-awaited return to the first-team.

The Verdict

Lenihan’s return is coming at a perfect time for Blackburn who could do with getting their season back on track going into the testing winter months.

The Leeds fixture will probably be too early for Lenihan to feature as he still appears to be training on his own.

However, this latest update is definitely positive news for Rovers and Lenihan will be keen to make up for the lost time by shoring up what has been a leaky defence this season.