Kean Makes Rallying Call

Rovers were knocked out of the Carling Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday night, suffering a 2-0 defeat to npower Championship side Cardiff in south Wales. The result condemned the Lancashire club to a fifth game without a win, and compounds their current plight which sees them sitting bottom of the Barclays Premier League table.

Kean said: "It's never nice when fans are being negative but when you're focused on the game once it starts it's something you put to the back of your mind and it doesn't affect you."

Kean made five changes to his side for the Cardiff City Stadium clash and also chose not to risk the defensive trio of Christopher Samba, Michel Salgado and Martin Olsson, who are all returning from hamstring injuries.

But a bright start gave way to another poor performance once Kenny Miller had capitalised on a Morten Gamst Pedersen error to give the Bluebirds a 19th-minute lead, and the visiting support again made their feelings clear to their Scottish manager with repeated chants of "Kean out".

Kean added: "I've said for a number of weeks, we want the same things, we all want the club to win games. The fans are frustrated like we are ourselves but we all need to be united and stick together. Once we get the lads in we will have the established back four we've not managed to have this season, if we get that in place then I'm sure we'll climb the table."

Kean admitted that he had effectively "forfeited" the clash by making so many changes and resisting the temptation to rush back his injured defensive trio, but he stood by his decision to ensure that he has the strongest possible side available for Saturday's critical league engagement with Swansea at Ewood Park.

He said: "There was a temptation to start with a stronger side but the way our injuries have gone at the moment, Samba has been out for a bit so he was touch and go as were the other two.

"But they have had hamstring tears so they're not small injuries and with the magnitude of the game coming up on Saturday, we need to get back to winning ways in the league so it was important. Saturday has to kick-start our season.

"We are in a position where we have forfeited going through in this competition and having the chance to reach a cup final. We now have games against sides who are within touching distance of us in the league and we need to treat those games as cup finals because we have not got though to the final of this competition."

Source: PA

Source: PA