With one tackle, Watford's Al Bangura has likely ended Blackburn's
charge up the table.
Mark Hughes' team won four straight games over the Christmas period and then -- after a
blip at home to Arsenal - they went to Manchester City and won 3-0 against a team
that has one of the best home defensive records in the league.
But they were stopped in their tracks on Tuesday night. It was not a 2-1 loss at basement
club Watford that hurt the most. Captain Robbie Savage suffered a broken leg and is
expected to miss the rest of the season.
Surgery on Thursday was successful, and it is hoped Savage will not miss the full six
months as originally estimated, but there will still be a big hole in the Blackburn
midfield for some time to come.
"I'm devastated," Savage said. "I was having probably one of my best ever
seasons.
"I'd just been given the captaincy, and the team were flying, so to get injured now
is a massive blow. I'm absolutely gutted."
Hughes was scathing about the tackle that has sidelined his skipper.
"It was a poor challenge -- a little bit high," he said. "He has caught
Robbie just above the ankle, who has paid the consequences.
"Only the lad can tell you whether it was deliberate or with intent. You will have to
ask the guy who was involved."
Savage, who has a reputation for dishing out some rough treatment, will get little
sympathy having finally ended up on the receiving end, but there was no doubt it was a
poor challenge from Bangura.
"I know
I've been renowned in the past for going in for 50-50s and all that, and the way I play I
expect to get hurt from time to time," Savage said.
"Unfortunately for me, on this occasion I have got hurt, and I know some people will
say I had it coming.
"But now I've got to answer those critics by coming back even fitter and
stronger."
It is that
no-nonsense combative approach that Blackburn will miss so dearly.
Savage's is
the second broken leg to befall a Blackburn player in the space of a week. Defender Andre
Ooijer was carried off at City at the weekend after an awkward tumble.
But with full
respect to the Dutch international, Ooijer is easier to replace than Savage.
Hughes has a
wealth of defensive talent in his squad and was already close to a deal to bring in Chris
Samba from Hertha Berlin.
Robbie
Savages are harder to come by, and the likelihood of Hughes being able to pull something
out of the hat in the remaining days of the transfer window is extremely slim.
Instead,
Rovers must battle on without a player who -- no matter how much he gets under the skin of
opponents -- is an extremely effective operator in midfield, able to break up play and
quickly find a more creative teammate.
Perhaps that
is why he annoys the opposition so much, but it is no coincidence that the 32-year-old
Savage has a CV full of moderate-sized clubs who became competitive once he was in the
team.
He did it for
Leicester and Birmingham, and both clubs suffered hugely when he moved on.
Blackburn are
still overwhelming for Saturday's FA Cup trip to struggling Championship side Luton -- who
are offered on WagerWeb at +300 compared to -125 for Blackburn -- but it is when they
travel to Chelsea in the Premiership next Wednesday that Rovers will get a sense of how
big their task is without Savage.
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