Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray has provided an update on the fitness of Scott Wharton, Ryan Nyambe, Bradley Johnson, Jan Paul van Hecke and Joe Rankin-Costello following their win at Bournemouth.
Rovers managed to pull off something of a surprise result on Saturday by inflicting just a third league defeat of the campaign on Bournemouth. The result saw Blackburn close the gap on the Cherries to just four points and they are now potentially set to be major players in the race for the automatic promotion places this season.
The victory at Bournemouth came despite Rovers facing a number of issues on the fitness front with some of their most influential performers. Scott Wharton was forced off the field just after Blackburn had doubled their lead against the Cherries, while Nymabe was also forced out of the action as well as Mowbray’s side held on to all three points.
There were also issues for Blackburn towards the end of the game regarding the conditions of Johnson and Van Hecke with both players looking in discomfort towards the end of the contest. Despite all of those problems on the injury front, Rovers managed to pick up argubaly their most impressive victory of the campaign to date.
Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph, Mowbray insisted that Wharton’s issue was illness-related and that he should be fine, while he also added updates on the conditions of Nyambe, Johnson and Van Hecke.
He said: “The medical team were stressing to me that he should have come off at half time (Wharton’s illness issues).
“Right from the start of the game he was feeling unwell, an upset stomach. He soldiered on through it and then felt that he couldn’t go on, he was washed out.
“That’s not a concern, he’ll have a week to get back up to speed.
“Ryan Nyambe, his hamstring really. I was driving him hard in the second half up and down that wing and he’s feeling his hamstring. He’ll go for a scan.
“Bradley Johnson took a knock and Jan Paul was wanting to come off at the end but we’d already made our three subs.”
On Blackburn’s long-term approach to building Rankin-Costello back to fitness he said: “He hasn’t been fit for a long, long time.
“I’m at the point of forgetting the time and just getting him ready so that when he does come back he doesn’t break down. There’s no rush.
“I’m not sitting here thinking that we have to have him back next week.
“If it takes another month, two months, three months, just make sure he doesn’t break down and turn him into some super being who’s really strong and robust so that he doesn’t break down.”
The verdict
Considering all of the issues that Blackburn had to contend with at Bournemouth, the fact that they were able to secure all three points was a remarkable achievement. They have really announced themselves as promotion contenders this term off the back of the win against the Cherries, but they will hope that fitness concerns do not dent the momentum that they have been building.
It seems that Wharton should be alright for the next game for Rovers and that will be a major plus, but Nymabe could be out of action based on these comments. That would be a blow for Blackburn because he has been an integral part of what they have been achieving on the field over the last few weeks.
Johnson and Van Hecke should be able to shake off their knocks you would expect, but it seems it will be a while before they get Rankin-Costello back in action. That is a blow for Blackburn, but they are right to be cautious with his return to fitness because they want to avoid recurring issues with him.