Injuries haven't exactly been kind to Charlie Mulgrew during his two Championship campaigns with Blackburn Rovers.

In each of those two second tier campaigns the club captain has had at Ewood Park, he has failed to make it past the 30 game mark. Last time they were in this division it was the club who lost out, suffering relegation to League One.

But after a single season in the third tier where Mulgrew missed just five games and even scored the goal that sealed immediate promotion back to the second tier on a night in Doncaster that will long in Rovers' memories, this time around it looks as if it will be the player himself who misses out.

Since Mulgrew dropped out of the side after picking up a knock in the 1-0 defeat to Stoke at the start of April, previously out of form left back Derrick Williams has stepped in to the centre of Rovers' defence alongside the ever more authoritative Darragh Lenihan, and the Lancashire side have looked about as solid as they have done all season.

Williams in particular has looked as if he has been handed a new lease of life, and seems as confident and reliable as he ever has done in his three seasons at the club, with manger Tony Mowbray going so far as to admit it is impossible to drop the 26-year-old right now, something which must have an ominous feel to it for Mulgrew.

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Indeed, throughout the season, it has often been the case that Mulgrew dropping out of the Rovers lineup has coincided with an upturn in form - and that must be hard to take for someone who has given so much to the Rovers cause in recent years.

It is a sad situation to see the man who captained Rovers in their season of resurgence last campaign stuck watching on from the sidelines, but Mulgrew will know as well as anybody that football is a results business, and that it is what Rovers must chase.

With two years still left on his contract, Mulgrew's time at Rovers may yet come again.

If it doesn't, the Scot will surely know that what he has already done for the club has made a huge contribution to bringing a positive atmosphere back to Ewood Park, and that hopefully, will count for something.