Blackburn Rovers midfielder Lewis Holtby has suggested that he is fighting fit and ready to make an impact on the final matches of the Championship campaign.

Holtby suffered what was thought to have been a season ending knee injury back in February, which had been a real blow for Rovers after the loss of Bradley Dack through injury also, but the suspension to the campaign has given the German the chance to recover and get himself back in contention to feature.

The 29-year-old managed to play a full hour in Blackburn’s 6-0 defeat against Liverpool in a warm up match ahead of the season restarting, after putting in the hard work off the field during his rehabilitation over the last few months, which means he could be available to feature against Bristol City.

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Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph, Holtby revealed that the lack of pre-season he had prior to his move to Rovers had impacted his ability to stay fully fit, but insisted that he now feels he has had the time to recover and get back in contention for a place in the side.

He said: “I trained my body up to a high standard, I’m hitting high figures on the fitness work.

“I could always run, it was different working alone or with a different team and coming in at the end of September.

“I didn’t give myself the benefit, I always had niggles and was coming in to two games a week from the start which I struggled with.

“I’ve worked really hard, three hours a day, doing extra work after training, so I want to get my body in to the best shape for the upcoming weeks and benefit not just this season but next season as well, because I think we will just go straight in to another pre-season.”

The verdict

This is very encouraging news for Rovers ahead of the season resuming, with Blackburn potentially having the extra quality of a fully fit Holtby to call upon in their quest to challenge for the final play-off spot in the last nine matches of the campaign.

Holtby demonstrated moments of his real quality in possession during his first few months at Ewood Park, but you did get the sense that he was never able to really find that vital consistency, so it is no surprise to hear that he was struggling with his fitness.

The fact that he had that period to get used to the Championship, and that he has now had time to properly recover from his injury, means that he could now be able to really show what he can bring to the side and he could prove to be the difference in the last few weeks of the season.