EWOOD Park legend Bryan Douglas says the current Blackburn Rovers crop desperately need to develop a goal threat from the centre of midfield.

Just three of the 66 league goals Gary Bowyer’s side scored last season came from players – Ryan Tunnicliffe, Corry Evans and Jay Spearing – operating from the middle of the park.

And Douglas, who netted 115 times in 503 appearances for Rovers, said: “We are a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde side.

“Sometimes we toe the line and other times we let ourselves down.

“If we want to be taken seriously we’ve got to be a little bit more consistent than we have been.

“We also have to be prepared to get forward.

“I was always taught that when we had the ball we’d be 11 attackers and when the opposition had the ball we’d be 11 defenders.

“We’d get up and down, up and down, which sometimes I don’t think we did last season.

“I felt some of our midfielders needed a passport to get in the other half.

“I don’t know if it’s confidence or not but you’re not going to score from 40 yards out.

“I know we can’t have a Steven Gerrard but we should take a leaf out of his book and get in there and arrive on the dot.

“Don’t be hanging about from 40 yards, get in the penalty area when the ball is coming across, as that’s where the danger is.”

Jordan Rhodes, with 21, and strike partner Rudy Gestede, with 20, contributed 62 per cent of the league goals Rovers scored in 2014-15.

And, along with Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo, of promoted Watford, they were the most prolific front pairing in the Championship.

Rhodes has long been linked with a move to the Premier League.

But Gestede’s development into one of the best frontmen outside of the top flight has not gone unnoticed either.

Watford want to add the Benin international, who finished last season as Rovers’ 23-goal top scorer in all competitions, to their attacking arsenal.

Douglas would be loathe to lose Gestede.

But should he go, Douglas says midfielders like the returning Jason Lowe, who missed the majority of last season with a serious foot injury, have to help lighten the load.

“Rudy took a lot of the weight off Jordan, who is a predator in and around the box,” said the former England international.

“Rudy is a big foil for him and in some of the matches I was a bit cross when he was taken off because he’s the one who wins the headers and gets the flick-ons.

“But, again, it shouldn’t be just about those two, other players need to take a bit of responsibility as well.

“These forwards need a bit more help from midfield in the way of goals.

“When Jason Lowe comes back I’d like him to score more. He’s a good player but he needs to get in the penalty area more.

“He’s got the ability to get there, he’s a big lad, and he if does, he’ll enjoy it.”