Blackburn Rovers told new Ipswich Town demand is making them look "stupid" - they need to get on with it now | OneFootball

FLW’s Blackburn Rovers fan pundit has spoken about the club’s demand for Ipswich Town to give them a goal during their rearranged fixture.

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…

The fallout from Blackburn Rovers’ abandoned EFL Championship game with Ipswich Town has continued in recent days, with Rovers making a demand to the EFL when the fixture is rearranged at Ewood Park in due course.

Valerien Ismael’s men found themselves 1-0 up against the Tractor Boys with just over 10 minutes to play, before a torrential downpour saw the surface at Ewood Park deemed unplayable, and the game was subsequently abandoned.

It was later revealed by the EFL that the fixture would be replayed in full, which saw Blackburn boss Ismael label the decision as "disgraceful".

The Lancashire-based side were rather expectedly furious about the decision from the EFL, and according to a report by journalist Alan Nixon, the club have requested in an email to the authorities that the Tractor Boys should give them a goal in the replay, as a way of making the contest as fair as possible.

Blackburn held the lead thanks to a second-half Todd Cantwell penalty when the original fixture was called off, with the club seemingly thinking it's a justified thing for Ipswich to do in the light of the abandonment.

With this latest development emerging, FLW’s Blackburn Rovers fan pundit has commented on Rovers’ latest demand, and whether Ipswich should honour it.

Blackburn Rovers goal demand branded as “stupid”

Speaking to Football League World, Blackburn Rovers fan pundit Simon Middlehurst believes his side should have been given the three points originally, but believes the club need to get on with the replay, branding their goal request as “stupid”.

Simon said: "To be honest, the whole situation has been really stupid, regardless of which way the decision went or was going to go, one set of fans weren’t going to be happy with it.

"Personally, I think the game should have been left as it is. It was the 79th minute, the rules have put in place for a reason, the win should have been given to Blackburn.

"Regarding it now being a full replay and Blackburn demanding Ipswich to give them a goal, to be honest, I think that’s a stupid decision to make.

"The EFL have made their decision, there’s no point trying to make ourselves look any more stupid than Blackburn currently do with our current situation on or off the pitch.

"Let's just play the game, get on with it, whatever happens, happens, but the EFL could have dealt with this a lot better from the start and just given the three points to Blackburn."

Blackburn Rovers must accept EFL decision

As much as everybody connected with Blackburn Rovers will feel horrified by the outcome of replaying the match, there’s nothing the club can do about it as the decision rested with the EFL authorities.

Blackburn must now put all their concentration into their upcoming second-tier matches before the rearranged game and then try to implement what they did so well against the Tractor Boys that gave them a 1-0 lead with 10 minutes to go.

Ultimately, it is up to Blackburn to make sure their pitch is in order to deal with these situations, while the treacherous conditions played a part in the penalty being awarded.

It was a game that needed stopping well before it was, and hopefully it can now be played again in conditions that provide a fair game for everybody and doesn't endanger player safety.