Kean expects Samba return

22 January 2012 14:16

Blackburn boss Steve Kean expects captain Christopher Samba to return for their next Barclays Premier League game against Newcastle on February 1.

The defender was left out of the squad for Saturday's 1-1 draw with Everton at Goodison Park after Kean deemed he was not in the right frame of mind.

Rovers turned down two bids from QPR but the club have insisted Samba will not be sold in January, and Kean said: "It was a tough week. We've had a couple of bids for Chris from one club. We put out a strong statement, he handed in a transfer request so all those things put together, I thought it was best he wasn't involved."

He added: "This is the last game for us before the window closes. He'll be back in next week and we can move on, get him back in for the next game and get him back playing."

The blow of Samba's absence was alleviated somewhat by the return from injury of Scott Dann, and Kean insisted there is no ulterior motive to their stance.

He added: "If Chris is going to move, it's not going to be in this window. It wasn't a case of trying to get teams bidding against each other to get a figure up, we'd just like to keep him, it's as simple as that."

Bolton's shock win over Liverpool meant a point was not enough to keep Blackburn out of the bottom three, and fans' protests against the club's owners Venky's will resume on the final day of the transfer window.

Supporters are unhappy that promised funds have not been invested in the playing squad, with striker Anthony Modeste, a loan signing from Bordeaux, the only recruit so far this month.

The 23-year-old made an appearance at Goodison Park as a late substitute, and Kean is confident he will prove to be a valuable addition.

He said: "We've been active, we've got Anthony in, initially until the end of the season. It was good to get him involved because he only trained with the lads for 20 minutes (on Friday) because we had to do his medical and do all his physical testing but he'll give us a different dimension."

Source: PA