Opinion: Despite Nottingham Forest transfer collapse, Blackburn can find solace after Monday display from 25-year-old | OneFootball

The past week is unlikely to be one that many from Blackburn Rovers will want to remember in a hurry.

After seeing two deals fall through – including one to sign Lewis O’Brien on loan Nottingham Forest until the end of the season – on Tuesday’s January transfer deadline day due to issues around the late submission of certain paperwork, the Ewood Park club returned to action when they hosted Wigan Athletic on Monday.

But despite the Latics sitting bottom of the Championship, with just a single win in their last 18 games in all competitions, Rovers were unable to take advantage of an apparent opportunity to move back into the top six in the table, playing out a rather uninspiring goalless draw with the Latics.

That result and performance understandably did little to ease the frustrations of the debacle of deadline day among the Rovers fans, although in amongst that, with the lack of a finishing touch in the final third serving as a reminder that even if the O’Brien had got over the line, the club would have missed a trick in failing to bring in a centre forward last month.

There was however, some consolation for Rovers to take from that game, when it comes to the disappointment of missing out on O’Brien.

Had they completed a deal for the Nottingham Forest midfielder, it would have been a signing that added some much needed physical presence and experience to the centre of the park for Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side.

Against Wigan however, it did feel as though Rovers enjoyed more of that than they have done in recent weeks, thanks to a player already on their books.

In comparison to previous campaigns, this has been a difficult season at Ewood Park for Lewis Travis.

Despite being named captain at the start of the season, the 25-year-old’s appearance in the starting lineup against the Latics, marked the first time he has featured in the XI in seven league games.

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That stint out lineup had come off the a spell out of the side in the wake of some poor form, that had seen Travis struggle to either get Rovers up the pitch, or protect the backline behind him, in ways he had done so effectively in previous seasons, and in the way you imagine O’Brien would have done, had he made it to Ewood Park.

On Monday however, Travis did start to look more back to his old self, covering plenty of ground – even slotting into right-back on occasions – while also making a number of important challenges to help shut down Wigan attacks.

It was a performance that carried some hallmarks of what Rovers fans may well have expected to see from O’Brien, and given Travis is the most similar to the Forest man in terms of what he offers in terms of carrying that physical impact on the pitch, you feel he is the one the club will have to look to for that contribution between now and the end of the season.

The fact therefore, that Travis appeared to show on Monday that he is still capable of producing the sor of solid and reliable performances he has previously been known for at Ewood Park, may provide some hope that he can provide a similar service, to what Rovers expected to be getting with the O’Brien deal.

Indeed, the 25-year-old would not be the first player this season, to make a triumphant return to the starting lineup after a spell out, and go onto re-establish themselves as a key figure in the XI – just ask Bradley Dack and Joe Rankin-Costello, and Rovers will know be desperate for that to happen again.

If it does, then on the basis of what he showed against Wigan on Monday night, you do wonder if Travis may be about to get one or two people behind the scenes at Blackburn, ever so slightly off the hook.