Appleton confident Williamson will deliver

9:00am Saturday 9th February 2013 in Sport Photograph of the Author By Andy Cryer, Blackburn Rovers reporter

BLAKCBURN Rovers manager Michael Appleton is backing new signing Lee Williamson to have an impact at Ewood Park, claiming the midfielder has a point to prove.

Former Sheffield United man Williamson arrives at Rovers after spending the past month as a free agent, following his release from Portsmouth, and the 30-year-old has signed a deal until the summer of 2014.

And despite spending the last thre years in League One, Appleton is confident Williamson can handle the step-up after a back injury hampered a promising start to his career at then top-flight Watford.

“I would like to think the players I bring into this club have got a point to prove,” said Appleton. “I want to bring players in who are really hungry to be successful. “Lee had a terrible time with his back and all sorts of problems after the operation. He knows what it is like to be down in the dumps and feel not too clever about himself.

“He has an opportunity to come to a fantastic club and prove what a good player he is.”

Williamson, who also helped Preston North End secure a Championship play-off spot back in 2009, will miss the game against Ipswich this afternoon through illness, but Appleton is confident he can add depth in a number of positions once he recovers.

“Lee is someone who can play in a lot of positions. His favourite position is centre midfield, he was very successful playing on the right for Sheffield United last season, and he scored 14 goals from there.”

“He also can play in either full-back position. He has bags of energy, very aggressive. I think he will surprise a few people.”

Comments(12)

eddie the eagle says...
9:26am Sat 9 Feb 13

Lets all give this lad afair crack of the whip,we don't want anybooing like Andrews had to put up with beacause he came from league 1,Ww used to love our 100% men so lets encourage the lad,lets face it 100% effort has been sadly lacking for a while.

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dangerous dave says...
9:32am Sat 9 Feb 13

Hope he works out - but odd that no other club in better position than the Rovers snapped up such a good player for nothing but then again we are the kings of freebies/loans!!!!!!
!!
OUT WITH THE LOT OF THEM

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rovers india says...
9:46am Sat 9 Feb 13

HE has a good record . he has spent most of his time in league 1 that doesn't mean he cannot play in the championshp. i think he can show us what he is capable of under appleton.. Lets hope 3 points today.

BLUE AND WHITE IN MY HEART. AND BLACKBURN IN MY SOUL.
A rovers fan from india but not a supporters of venkys . only love rovers

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bburnrover says...
9:59am Sat 9 Feb 13

welli have a motto that if you buy quality you get quality but if you buy less and just hope you get hopeless.

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Inthepointyend says...
10:31am Sat 9 Feb 13

bburnrover wrote:
welli have a motto that if you buy quality you get quality but if you buy less and just hope you get hopeless.
Shows what you know, Mark Atkins signed for £45000 from Scunthorpe, played over 30 games in the title winning season, many thought he wasn't 'quality', they were wrong and so are you.

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hasslem hasslem says...
10:31am Sat 9 Feb 13

bburnrover wrote:
welli have a motto that if you buy quality you get quality but if you buy less and just hope you get hopeless.
tony gale - wealdstone united to blackburn rovers 1994/95.....premiers
hip winner

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kool4katz says...
10:42am Sat 9 Feb 13

the word agressive inthe interview sounds interesting,somethin
g the team is clearly lacking

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RoverTheHill says...
10:44am Sat 9 Feb 13

Erm Jordan Rhodes had only played a handful of games in the Championship and we paid £8million for him? Just because this guy has been in League 1 for a while doesn't make him any worse or better a player.

If Appleton rates him that'll do me, it shows he's building his own team. Yakubu came on a free from Everton, Ryan Nelsen cost F.A as did Samba. Just because another club isn't beating their door down doesn't mean they aren't quality players. Bentley is a prime example of how it can swing the other way at the drop of a hat.

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seekyrovers says...
10:48am Sat 9 Feb 13

get behind him and stop moaning get behind your team cmon the blues big 3 points keep the momentum ,,, rovers till i die

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srvp28 says...
11:36am Sat 9 Feb 13

A versatile player, adds competition to the midfield, guaranteed to be on low wages and didn't cost us a penny. Theoretically speaking, there shouldn't be a single negative comment about this bit of business but there are far too many people on here who are only happy when their glass is half empty.

Cue the uproar because we signed the player while he's ill...

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A Darener says...
1:16pm Sat 9 Feb 13

It matters little whether a player has played in the lower leagues, it is whether the manager can bring the best out of him in the side he is playing in at this point in time.
Every player deserves his chance to prove he can hack it. Just let's get behind the ALL and maybe we will make the play offs.

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MatthewCA says...
6:14am Sun 10 Feb 13

When Rochina , Goodwillie arrived we expect the same " Surprise ". Time will prove Lee too.

Any way first lucky win yesterday for rovers, Start of this championship we also did the same to draw the match with a self goal from Jason Lowe. Good we got full points and reach the brim of the playoff chart table for now.

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