Blackburn Rovers questioned for 'very confusing' transfer situation - it 'shocked a lot of people' | OneFootball

Blackburn Rovers have recently hit trouble in their defensive ranks

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Blackburn Rovers have been hit by an injury crisis in the defensive department.

The East Lancashire outfit arrived into this season with an already depleted squad, after seeing Lewis Travis, Callum Brittain, Joe Rankin-Costello, Andreas Weimann, Danny Batth and Dominic Hyam all join fellow Championship clubs.

This has come back to bite them in more ways than one, as after fighting for the play-offs last term, Rovers have spent most of their time this season towards the bottom of the Championship.

Only the three teams within the relegation zone have lost more of their first 15 matches than Blackburn, which highlights just how poorly they’ve started the campaign. Recently, this has come to a head in their defensive department.

Due to injuries throughout the backline to the likes of Scott Wharton and Hayden Carter, winger Ryan Hedges was forced to play in a back three against Derby County, a contest Rovers subsequently lost 2-1.

Blackburn Rovers questioned over not bringing in defensive reinforcements

After letting Hyam exit for Wrexham on deadline day, Blackburn didn’t have time to recruit a replacement at that point, making them vulnerable to injuries in defence.

That’s exactly what has occurred at Ewood Park in recent weeks, but Rovers have opted against bringing in a free agent as a short-term fix to that issue.

When asked if this act surprised him, Football League World’s Blackburn Rovers fan pundit, Simon Middlehurst, admitted that he wasn’t shocked by the club’s decision, even though it would’ve made perfect sense.

“Blackburn's transfer policy and how they do business has always been a very, very confusing matter,” admitted Simon. “If you look at letting Dom Hyam go very, very late in the transfer window and not bringing anyone in, it sort of shocked a lot of people.

“We knew it was going to happen with injuries, Hayden Carter and Scott Wharton coming back from long-term injuries and now Scott Wharton is injured again, Hayden Carter is only just coming back into the fold.

“Looking at the free market, that would have been a sensible solution, but Blackburn doesn't do sensible. But hopefully, come January, business should be around getting the defender in.

“That is where we're seriously lacking and that should be the main point of our transfer business in January.”

Blackburn Rovers must address this situation in the January transfer window

Letting Hyam leave without a replacement lined up on deadline day turned out to be a slight blunder made by Blackburn, as it has left them in the situation where a winger has been deployed on the left of a back three.

Rovers must learn from this mistake in January and make sure they finish the window with sufficient depth at the back.

The East Lancashire outfit have already shown they are beatable this term on a number of occasions and with Sheffield United and Norwich City likely to improve behind them, fears of relegation down to League One could soon become apparent.

If Blackburn find themselves in a similarly bad situation later down the line regarding their defensive depth, it could have grave consequences in a survival battle, so they must eradicate that eventuality from existence by making some much-needed signings in January.