Blackburn Rovers midfielder Lewis Travis says that their Championship season should not be defined by the result against Burnley last time out.

Rovers went into the World Cup break with a 3-0 defeat against their local rivals at Turf Moor, which left them third in the table, two points behind second-placed Sheffield United, but five behind the Clarets who sit top.

It has still been an excellent debut season for Jon Dahl Tomasson at Ewood Park, with the 46-year-old defying all expectations to guide Rovers into promotion contention with 12 wins from their 21 games so far. His achievements are even more impressive when you consider it has been done on a relatively modest budget, with Callum Brittain, Sammie Szmodics, and Dominic Hyam the only permanent signings this summer.

Rovers are back in action this weekend with another Lancashire derby at home to Preston North End and while captain Travis admitted he can understand the frustration of the fans with the performance and result against Burnley, he believes it should not take the gloss off what has been an otherwise outstanding campaign.

"I think if you take that game away everyone would snap your hand off and say that we’d had a really good first half of the season," Travis told the Lancashire Telegraph.

"The Burnley game overshadowed it a lot but in the grand scheme of things I think people will only care about the results this season and whether we can get promoted, and I think we just need to try and replicate the results we’ve had and build on that.

"We’ve got another derby game, not as tasty, but it’s one to look forward to."

Academy product Travis has played in all but one of Rovers' league games this season, scoring two goals, but says he was slightly disappointed by his performances prior to the break and is ready to find his best form again when the action returns.

"It’s been tough, but I’ve enjoyed it," Travis said.

"I think I started the season better than I finished the games before, so I think this break will have done me the world of good and I feel ready to play at my maximum."

 

 

The verdict

Travis is right to look at the bigger picture of Rovers' season.

It is understandable that fans would have been disappointed with the performance and result against Burnley, particularly given the heated derby atmosphere, but it should not change the perception of what has been an impressive first half of the season.

The truth is that on the evidence so far, Burnley have been the exceptional team in the division and have the quality to beat any team in the league on their day, so in that context, the result was not entirely surprising. Despite their lofty position, Rovers have also lost nine games, the most in the top half, so there is an element of inconsistency in their game for Tomasson to work on if they are to maintain their promotion push.

But few Rovers fans would have been expecting to be sitting third at this point of the season and with another derby against Preston on Saturday, a win can go some way to righting the wrongs of the Burnley defeat.