Jon Dahl Tomasson issues update on Ben Brereton Diaz's Blackburn Rovers situation | OneFootball

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Football League World

·30 March 2023

Jon Dahl Tomasson issues update on Ben Brereton Diaz's Blackburn Rovers situation

Article image:Jon Dahl Tomasson issues update on Ben Brereton Diaz's Blackburn Rovers situation

Blackburn Rovers could be without talisman Ben Brereton Diaz for their trip to face Birmingham City this weekend.

Rovers are looking to try and close the gap to second-placed Sheffield United when they take on the Blues, but if they cannot do that then they will be hoping to solidify their position inside the top six of the Championship table.


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The Lancashire outfit have won five of their last six league contests, with their only slip-up coming in the form of a 3-2 defeat away at Stoke City earlier in March.

Whilst Saturday's opposition aren't the most fearsome on paper, they could do with a fully-fit squad - yet they could be without their most important attacker in Brereton.

Why is BBD a doubt?

Since his shock inclusion in Chile's international squad in 2021 for the very first time, Brereton has been a key part of their side under previous boss Martin Lasarte and the most recent appointment in Eduardo Berizzo.

The 23-year-old flew all the way to South America for the international break where Chile were taking on Paraguay in a friendly and he started up-front, flanked by Diego Rubio and Norwich City's Marcelino Nunez.

Rovers fans were somewhat fearing the worst though as Brereton hobbled off just after the second half began, in a match Chile went on to win 3-2.

What has JDT said?

There has been worry over Brereton's knock that he suffered, but it appears that Rovers head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson was perhaps thinking of not starting him anyway against City this weekend due to his travel schedule.

"He went off around 51 minutes and then had a long journey," Tomasson said in his pre-Birmingham press conference, per the official Rovers Twitter account.

"Of course, we’d like to have him on the pitch, he's got 3 goals in his last 3 games, but it’s doubtful.

"It was clever of him to think about Rovers when he felt something and come off."

The Verdict

In three of Rovers' last four Championship victories, Brereton has either not appeared or he has only played a cameo role due to an injury and recovering from it, so he may not be as important as he once was to the team.

Of course, his goals are still helpful and he has 14 of those for the club in all competitions this season, but they perhaps relied on him a bit too much last season under Tony Mowbray and when he was either out injured or not scoring, Rovers suffered results-wise too.

Other players have stepped up to the plate for Tomasson recently, with the likes of Sam Gallagher, Tyhrys Dolan and Sammie Szmodics all showing what life after Brereton could look like in the 2023-24 season when he's inevitably departed Ewood Park.

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