Blackburn Rovers, Sheffield United deal is not one Ewood Park will likely remember: View | OneFootball

Not for the first time, the final hours of this season winter transfer window are not ones that those connected with Blackburn Rovers will likely want to remember.

After a dramatic saga in the last couple of days of the window, the Ewood Park club finally announced the signing of a much needed centre forward, in the form of Orlando City's Duncan McGuire.

However, in a similar way to an attempted loan move for Nottingham Forest's Lewis O'Brien that fell through the year before, that deal for McGuire would also collapse due to administrative issues at Ewood Park.

That does seem to have cost Blackburn, who with the exception of Sammie Szmodics, have continued to struggle for goals since January, hurting their chances of escaping the Championship relegation fight.

What is perhaps particularly ironic about the collapse of the McGuire deal, is that it was not even the last signing the club announced on deadline day.

Blackburn sealed late Sheffield United swoop

Shortly after they had announced the ultimately ill-fated signing of McGuire, Rovers confirmed another signing, with the arrival of John Fleck from Sheffield United.

The midfielder moved to Ewood Park on a free transfer from the Blades, while signing on a contract until the end of the season.

Initially, it was a move that looked a smart one for Blackburn to have made. Signing Fleck filled a void that had been left in the centre of midfield, following the departure of the talismanic Adam Wharton to Crystal Palace earlier on deadline day.

At 32-years-old, the Scotsman also brought with him the experience many had been asking to be added to the squad at Ewood Park.

Meanwhile, his past success with the likes of Rangers and Sheffield United also highlighted the quality Rovers were bringing in for this level.

But while unlike the McGuire deal this one was allowed to be completed, it is another that has simply not gone well for Blackburn.

Fleck's Blackburn career could be very brief

The midfielder was an unused substitute in the first three games that Blackburn played after they had signed the Scotsman.

However, that would change midway through February, when Fleck was handed his Rovers debut, being named in the starting lineup for the trip to Deepdale to face Preston North End.

That though, is not a debut that would go well for Fleck, with the 32-year-old forced off just 17 minutes into the game with a shin injury.

It was then subsequently confirmed that the midfielder would be out for the remainder of the season due to that injury, in what is one of a number of damning reflections on the club's injury record during the current campaign.

In the case of Fleck this will be particularly frustrating, given it came so soon into his first appearance for the club, when he could have offered so much more in the fight to avoid relegation had he stayed fit.

Now though, there may be a possibility that these minutes are the only ones he ever plays for Blackburn Rovers.

He is due to be out of contract at Ewood Park at the end of this season, and given how little football he has played recently amid these injury issues, the club may be reluctant to take a gamble on handing him a new one.

Indeed, with club captain Lewis Travis due to return from a loan spell at Ipswich Town at the end of the season as well, the need for the extra depth that Fleck could have offered in midfield may be reduced by the summer.

With all that in mind, the midfielder's career at Blackburn may have already come to an end the same day it really began at Deepdale.