Blackburn Rovers vs Tottenham Hotspur preview - Kean focussed on Spurs clash amid further fan protests

Posted Sunday, October 23, 2011 by PA

Blackburn manager Steve Kean insists he is concentrating on kick-starting his team's season this weekend despite the backdrop of another fans protest looming.

Sunday's match at home to Tottenham will see an organised group of supporters march to Ewood Park prior to kick-off and stage a 45-minute sit in after the match.

It will be third successive home game fans have called for Kean to be sacked with the team bottom of the Barclays Premier League.

Questions about the protest were ruled off-limits at the manager's pre-match press conference but that will not prevent further debate about Kean's position.

This week striker Ayegbeni Yakubu insisted all the players were fully behind Kean, who has won just six of his 29 league matches in charge, and the Rovers boss welcomed that public support.

"It is nice when your players give you a little bit of backing," said the Scot. "I know what my players are like - they are a great bunch of lads who work their socks off.

"We will go out and be fully committed to getting three points against Tottenham but it is always nice when the boys voice togetherness, not just about me but about each other."

Organisers of the protest claim their voice is not being heard within the club - not necessarily over the future of Kean but generally - despite a group being invited to India earlier this month to meet owners Venky's.

"The supporters have no desire to protest but while the club continues to have no dialogue with supporters we feel we have little choice," Glen Mullen, one of the organisers, said in a statement to Press Association Sport.

"The fans want unity from both the club and management to include the unity of supporters.

"We are very concerned we find ourselves staging a protest for the third home game on the trot and feel the club and management team could have brought these protests to an end if they had shown a willingness to communicate."

Rovers defender Michel Salgado will miss out after a recurrence of a hamstring injury. The Spaniard aggravated the problem in last weekend's 1-1 draw at QPR and his absence means Jason Lowe is expected to fill in at right-back.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has told Blackburn fans to lay off Steve Kean and instead focus on backing their manager.

Redknapp, who takes his team to the north-west on the back of a five-match unbeaten run, thinks barracking his opposite number is a counter-productive move.

"It's always a shame when that (protests) happens to anyone," Redknapp said. "They need to get behind their team at the moment. That's more important.

"He is working hard and the fans need to stick with their team. It's their club and you have to keep supporting your team."

Despite their poor form, the Lancashire club's only victory this season came against Arsenal - something which Redknapp treats as a warning sign his team should use to guard against complacency.

He added: "You don't go to Blackburn and get too many easy games. They beat Arsenal there this year so we have to make sure we don't underestimate the opposition."

Spurs' form against the weaker teams in the division cost them a place in the Champions League last season, but they have rectified that this year by beating Wolves and Wigan on the road.

"If we are going to be a team that is going to be up there this year, we have to go and win these sort of games," Redknapp said.

"We did it at Wigan and Wolves, and we could have won at Newcastle had we not conceded with a couple of minutes to go."

The Spurs boss will recall the likes of Rafael van der Vaart, Parker and Gareth Bale after they were rested for Thursday's 1-0 win over Rubin Kazan.

Aaron Lennon and Sandro came through 70 minutes of the game as they stepped up their recovery from their respective groin and calf injuries, and should be available.

Redknapp is not blessed with options in defence, however, with injuries to Ledley King, Vedran Corluka, Michael Dawson and William Gallas meaning Sebastien Bassong and Younes Kaboul are the club's only fit centre-backs.