"Poor attitude" - Blackburn Rovers urged to sell Callum Brittain to Middlesbrough after pre-season flashpoint | OneFootball

Blackburn's Callum Brittain has been criticised after he refused to play in a pre-season friendly as he looks to force a move to Middlesbrough.

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk‘ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Blackburn Rovers full-back Callum Brittain has been criticised for his behaviour after refusing to play in their pre-season win at Accrington Stanley, as he looks to force a move to Middlesbrough.

There has been plenty of speculation surrounding the future of the right-back in the summer window, with Derby County and Middlesbrough both making bids for the 27-year-old.

Given his importance to Rovers, manager Valerien Ismael was determined to keep the right wing-back at the club, but with one year left on his contract, Blackburn are in a difficult position.

Callum Brittain looks to push through Middlesbrough transfer from Blackburn

The priority was to tie Brittain down to a new deal, but the ex-Barnsley man hasn’t put pen to paper, and the saga took another twist on Saturday as Ismael revealed the player didn’t want to feature in the friendly at Accrington.

Unsurprisingly, that didn’t go down well with FLW's Blackburn fan pundit Simon Middlehurst, as he hit out at Brittain’s action when he was asked about the situation, and whether he could understand why the player took such a stance.

“I’m very disappointed with that," Simon told FLW.

"When it comes to that situation, if you want to leave, that’s fine, leave, but don’t act like Brittain has done.

“At the end of the day, you’re still under contract with the club, it’s still a year, we still pay his wages. We’ve never been a club that has failed to pay wages, and we’re still paying him a wage. So for him to do that and to turn around and say he’s refusing to play, that’s a really poor attitude.

“It’s not what you’d want from a fans favourite, especially a player who not so long ago was keen to sign a new contract, and spoke highly of Ismael having worked with him at Barnsley.

"It’s just not what we need going into the season.

"Personally, I’d let him go, he has made his decision. It’s a really, really poor attitude and hopefully, like a few players who have left Blackburn in the past, he realises the grass isn’t always greener.”

Callum Brittain has damaged his reputation with Blackburn Rovers fans

Of course, this is only one opinion, but you would imagine it’s a view that is shared by the majority of Blackburn fans, who will rightly be annoyed at Brittain’s actions.

There’s nothing wrong with the player wanting to leave, and it would be understandable if he thinks Middlesbrough offer a better chance of promotion this season, even if they did finish below Rovers last season.

But that doesn’t mean you can go about things how you want, and refusing to play, even in a friendly, is disrespectful to his teammates, the club and the fans, as well as the manager.

Ultimately, Blackburn have shown they will sell players if the right offer arrives, and clearly Boro are yet to do that.