9:54am Thursday 18th March 2010
By Andy Cryer
SAM Allardyce has told his Blackburn Rovers starlets ‘our club needs you’ after watching them give Chelsea a run for their money in last night’s FA Youth Cup semi-final clash.
Rovers went down 1-0 to their London counterparts in their first leg match at Ewood Park, after Tom Hitchcock unluckily diverted a first-half corner into his own net.
A feisty battle saw both sides reduced to 10 men in the second-half, with Blackburn’s Michael Potts and Chelsea’s Aliu Djalo seeing red following a 20-man melee.
Despite defeat, Rovers maintain a fighting chance of progressing to the final when they head to Stamford Bridge for the return leg on Monday.
Gary Bowyer’s under 18s had already beaten the likes of Manchester United and Everton on their way to the last four and first team boss Allardyce insists there is a place for them in the club’s future.
Ewood Park favourite David Dunn is one of the few to have made the grade at Rovers after coming through the club’s youth ranks with many coming so close, before dropping into the lower leagues.
Now, with a handful of potential stars already in Rovers’ first team, Allardyce admits limited finances at Ewood Park mean the development of ‘their own stars’ is crucial for the future.
He said: “I think the strides we have made over the last 12 months have been enormous behind the scenes. The development of our young players has been outstanding from the academy upwards.
“It has already bore fruits in the youth team players. Phil Jones, Martin Olsson and Junior Hoilett have come through and behind that we expect some more of the youth team to come through.
“The future looks quite good for Blackburn Rovers and we just have to make sure we get them through to the first team more and more. Rather than nearly getting them there and then selling them on to the Championship “Seeing these players come through would be great for the club because it would cut down on the spending for players you need and the top level of spending is far beyond what we can afford.”
Ahead of Sunday’s visit of Chelsea, Rovers are on the brink of securing their top flight status for a ninth consecutive year - already the longest stay in the highest league since 1936.
Since succeeding Paul Ince as Rovers boss in November 2008, Allardyce has constantly been battling against the drop but he admits the club’s youth development is making it easier to plan for the future.
“Before was a straight forward blinkers on and battle,” he said. “The next level of planning doesn’t begin until we secure our status this season.
“But there is a longer term look from me and my staff because we are pleasantly surprised by some of the outstanding development of the younger players we have had.
“Some of them have been a major force in the first team this season.
"Our academy team is in the semi final and one or two could come out of that.
"It is very exciting for the football club and if we can get these youngsters in the first team it will make things very exciting indeed.”
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