Source: PA
Allardyce wary of Derbyshire threat
Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce is surprised to see Matt Derbyshire back in English football - and wary of the goal threat the former Rovers striker poses.
Derbyshire, who left Ewood Park for Greek side Olympiacos last year, joined Birmingham this week on a season-long loan and is now in line to make his Blues debut against Blackburn when the two teams meet at St Andrews on Saturday.
Allardyce did not expect to see Derbyshire return to the Barclays Premier League so soon, but is well aware of the 24-year-old's ability and the problems he could cause for his old club.
"I don't know why he is back, he told me that the place he wanted to be is Greece," Allardyce said. "He said he didn't want to stay in this country, it's that good there he wanted to be there, so I don't quite know what has happened along the line. Obviously it's not quite as good as he thought it was.
"But he is a very good goalscorer, we all know that, and that is why we got an unbelievably good fee. We let him go there on loan and he became a hero, they paid a lot of money for him and we capitalised on that because we needed to. Over four million euros was one of the best deals, for him and for us, that I've done in my time.
"Now he comes back, hopefully not to haunt us on Saturday, because we know that, particularly off the bench, he is good at turning a game with goals."
