Blackburn Rovers

Head coach Valerien Ismael described Blackburn's 3-0 win at Hull as their best away performance under him.

The emphatic victory came after Rovers had lost all three of their previous league and cup matches this season.

"When you win your first game it's really good because you start your Championship season," Ismael told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"When we lost games we stayed calm and focused. We deal with adversity and now we're moving forward and the win will help us to start the season.

"In the second half we scored two goals straightaway and that gave us the confidence to control the game. Since I've been in charge at the club, that was the best away performance.

"Now before the international break we have a difficult home game against Norwich and we need the same performance and same focus."

Glenn Speller
BBC Sport England

Blackburn Rovers midfielder Lewis Travis has almost certainly played his last game for the club, according to head coach Valerien Ismael, with BBC Radio Derby, external reporting Derby County have agreed a fee for him.

The 27-year-old has only featured once for Rovers so far this season with speculation surrounding a potential move away from Ewood Park, and he will not travel with the squad for Saturday's Championship match at Hull City (12:30 BST).

Derby County and Wrexham were both linked with Travis in June, while Ismael stated 10 days ago he could leave "if the price was right."

"There is something going on behind the scenes, but we are focusing on the game - the other thing we will talk about as soon as we can," the Blackburn boss told BBC Radio Lancashire, but he would not be drawn on a possible destination for Travis.

On whether Travis had played his last game for Rovers, Ismael added: "It looks like it but we will see what's going on."

Ismael also confirmed Todd Cantwell, who captained Rovers in Travis' absence for last weekend's 2-1 Championship defeat at home to Birmingham City, will takeover as skipper on a permanent basis.

"Todd will be the new permanent captain of the club.

"He's a player who, when I came in, we talked together, and I was pleased with how he socialised with everyone within the building.

"He's comfortable talking to the academy players, the cleaners, the board - he's a respected player and the way he speaks to people is very good."

Hull City will aim for back-to-back home wins when they host Blackburn Rovers on Saturday (12:30 BST).

The Tigers are unbeaten in the Championship so far whilst Rovers seek their first win of the season.

• Hull City have won three of their last four league games against Blackburn Rovers (L1), which is as many victories as across their prior 16 meetings combined (D4 L9).

• Blackburn Rovers have won four of their last six away league games against Hull City (L2), which is as many victories as in their prior 13 league visits.

• Hull City remain unbeaten in the Championship this season (W1 D1) and could go three league games unbeaten at the start of the season for successive campaigns for the first time since 1993-94.

• Blackburn Rovers have lost each of their opening two league games this season. They last lost their opening three matches of a campaign back in 2016-17 when they were ultimately relegated to League One.

Samantha Fletcher
BBC Final Score Reporter

Image source, Getty Images

I think the biggest heartbreak from Saturday's late home defeat for Blackburn will come for their new captain Todd Cantwell.

He really stepped up, taking complete ownership with an unquestionable work ethic.

The former Rangers man is back from injury, after returning to the squad in the first round of the Carabao Cup, and fans will be pleased to see him play nearly 90 minutes.

With the backdrop of captain Lewis Travis saying he wanted to leave his boyhood club this week, Cantwell appeared to be buoyed by the extra responsibility and looked positively supercharged against Birmingham City.

He deserved his goal which changed the game just into the second half and I'd love to see the stats on how much ground he covered.

Blackburn manager Valerian Ismael says his side's late defeat to Birmingham was 'on us' after two mistakes cost Rovers victory at home.

Ismael told BBC Radio Lancashire: "It is a tough one, I am shocked, football can be cruel. We played a good game, and we knew at half-time we needed to put more pressure on them, and that gave us the goal.

"It's terrible, but this loss is on us, we made two terrible mistakes and we have to be better on the set piece positioning.

"Everything was in place and then we dealt with a three-v-one situation very badly. Then we get to 11 minutes extra time and we managed ten of those perfectly.

"There were a lot of positives today, their shots were not really dangerous, we had the right structure and we got the goal we wanted.

"But football is details, and we have some questions to answer internally to make sure we deal with these situations better next time."

Blackburn Rovers boss Valerien Ismael said that midfielder Todd Cantwell has returned to fitness and will be available for their upcoming Championship match against Birmingham City on Saturday (15:00 BST).

The 27-year-old missed out on the opening defeat against West Bromwich Albion, but played 27 minutes in the side's loss to Bradford City in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.

"He can be a technical leader on the pitch. He's got all the potential to do that. So now it's all about his fitness," Ismael told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"I think he made a great pre-season. He just had a little setback last week, but now he's back, so hopefully he can stay fit.

"It might be a big season for him and he's very motivated to do that."

However, the Frenchman said that it's "too early" for defender Hayden Carter to make an appearance despite returning to training after suffering a hamstring injury in July.

Ismael added: "Carter trained with the squad for two days now, but it's too early for the game."

Blackburn Rovers manager Valerien Ismael has said he would allow club captain Lewis Travis to leave for the right price but insisted he would still play for Rovers as they face promoted side Birmingham City on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Blues will be looking for a first win in their return to the second tier after victory was snatched away from them in the embers of the opening-night 1-1 draw with Ipswich.

• Blackburn Rovers have lost just two of their past 38 home league games against Birmingham City (W25 D11), winning each of their past four in succession, during which they have scored 15 goals in total.

• Birmingham City have won two of their past three league games against Blackburn Rovers (L1), as many victories as across their prior 16 matches against Rovers combined (D6 L8).

• Blackburn have won their opening home game in each of the past five league seasons. However, following their 1-0 opening-day loss at West Bromwich Albion, they will be hoping to avoid beginning a league campaign with back-to-back defeats, which last happened in 2019-20.

• Birmingham have not lost their opening away game in any of the past six seasons (W3 D3) since losing 1-0 at Middlesbrough in the Championship in 2018-19.

• Birmingham's Keshi Anderson won more duels than any other player (14) on the second tier's opening weekend, with the last Blues player to win more in the Championship being Ethan Laird against Swansea in August 2023 (21).

BBC Radio Lancashire's Scott Reid said "the ball is in Derby County's court" regarding a move for Blackburn captain Lewis Travis after a surprising admission from Rovers' boss Valerien Ismael.

This is after Ismael said after his side's Carabao Cup defeat by Bradford City that if the price is right then they would allow Travis to leave.

"He casually dropped it in the interview that his club captain wants to leave," Reid told BBC Radio Derby.

"It took us by surprise... It is a strange situation when a manager reveals this.

"I think Blackburn will sell if Derby offer what valuation they want."

Listen to the full analysis and more on BBC Sounds.

Derby County boss John Eustace is looking to recruit another player from former club Blackburn Rovers after making a £1.5m bid for English midfielder Lewis Travis. (The Athletic - subscription required), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Wednesday's gossip column here.

Image source, Getty Images

Nicolas Michalski has been rewarded for his rapid rise at Blackburn by signing a new long-term contract with the Ewood Park club.

Michalski, 18, has penned a four-year agreement with the option of a further 12 months.

He was won three England Under-18 caps and was part of boss Valerien Ismael's senior squad during their pre-season training camp in Spain.

Although Michalski has yet to make his Rovers debut, he was named on the bench for Saturday's Championship opener at West Bromwich Albion and is part of the first-team squad.

Blackburn Rovers are not happy about potentially losing key players this month but the club is a business, according to boss Valerian Ismael.

Midfielders Sondre Tronstad, Lewis Travis, and Ryan Hedges along with defender Dominic Hyam will be out of contract at the end of the season.

All four players would be able to leave Ewood Park for free next summer and Ismael accepts it is a far from ideal situation with the current transfer window open until 1 September and him not knowing who will be left in his squad.

"We are in a difficult situation as a club because you want to extend the contracts of the players and it hasn't happened so you chase it," Ismael told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"It is about taking the best decision for the club - at the moment they are our players so we will see what happens until the end of the transfer window."

Tronstad, Travis, Hedges and Hyam all started as Blackburn lost their opening Championship match 1-0 at West Brom on Saturday.

"At the moment we cannot say they will stay or leave," Ismael added. "The best thing for the club is to get the value for the players and reinvest the money - this is a business as well.

"It does not mean we are happy about it - we have to think about the next step and what is best for us depending on the offer and what the player wants."

Rovers host Bradford City in the first round of the EFL Cup on Tuesday (19:45 BST) with midfielder Todd Cantwell set to feature for the first time this season after recovering from a thigh strain.

Image source, Getty Images

Valerien Ismael wants more from his Blackburn Rovers attackers after they lost their opening game at West Bromwich Albion.

Isaac Price's early goal was all that separated the sides at The Hawthorns, yet Rovers only forced Albion goalkeeper Josh Griffiths into one save in the whole match.

So Ismael knows that must change as the Championship season kicks into gear.

"From the performance, it was a good away game from us," he told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"We had a lot of new faces, the players arrived this week, it was a little bit hectic and chaotic.

"But I think throughout the 90 minutes we were really solid.

"What we have to work on is our work in the final third - we should be doing better with the last cross, the last pass. We didn't really test the goalkeeper, so we must shoot more on target."

Blackburn boss Valerien Ismael has said that his side are in a "transition season" following a busy summer of incomings and outgoings.

Rovers missed out on a top six finish last campaign by just two points and told BBC Radio Lancashire that this season is a "fresh start" for the club.

"It will be a fresh start, that is very clear now. We are fully in that transition, it is all about integrating the new players," the Frenchman said.

"We are very pleased with the team we have got, but we know that we still want to do something in the transfer market."

The 49-year-old has previous experience in the Championship, with stints at Barnsley, West Bromwich Albion and Watford.

Speaking on the level of quality in the league this season, he said: "It is really competitive. It maybe the best Championship season we have ever faced.

"If you look at the transfer market, the teams that have been really active isn't Leicester, Southampton or Ipswich, but it has been Birmingham and Wrexham.

Blackburn kick-off their season with a trip to the Hawthorns on Saturday.

"It is always a tough away game, but there is no easy game in this league. It is clear that they are a strong team with a good new manager," he said.

"We have had a good pre-season and are looking forward to it."

Listen to the full pre-match press conference and more on BBC Sounds.