Blackburn Rovers star breaks silence on 'embarrassing' Ipswich Town, EFL replay situation | OneFootball

Blackburn Rovers' clash with Ipswich Town will be replayed in full after the original fixture was abandoned after 80 minutes

Taylor Gardner-Hickman has criticised the decision to replay Blackburn Rovers’ match against Ipswich Town.

The first attempt to play the fixture at Ewood Park took place on 20 September, but the referee opted to abandon the clash after only 80 minutes were played due to heavy rain.

The EFL have since decided that the match will be replayed in full after hearing arguments from both sides on how to determine an outcome of the match.

Blackburn were leading 1-0 thanks to a Todd Cantwell penalty, while Jacob Greaves had also been sent off to reduce the visitors to 10 men, when the game was ended prematurely.

The EFL’s decision will come as a disappointment for the Lancashire outfit, as they feel they would’ve won the game had it been able to finish when scheduled.

Gardner-Hickman criticised Blackburn v Ipswich replay decision

Gardner-Hickman has claimed that the decision to replay Blackburn’s clash with Ipswich is an embarrassing moment for the sport, but that the team have to move on from the incident.

He believes that the majority of football in football will agree that Rovers have been hard done by with the decision, but that the squad have to respond well and not let it get to them.

"It's not something I have ever experienced," said Gardner-Hickman, via the BBC.

"I have no words on how they have come to that decision.

“I think it's embarrassing for football.

“If you ask most people around the world, they don't understand that decision.

"That's football and we'll move on.

“We have to do the same again when they come back.

“We can't let it get us down.

“Last week was very mixed with what went on.”

Gardner-Hickman has suggested a rule change is made to ensure this doesn’t happen again, suggesting a cut-off point at the 75-minute mark, so that games that reach that point before being abandoned will have their result stand: "First and foremost, we need a rule in place.

“I think there used to be around 75 minutes of the game and the result would stand.

"A few facts everyone knows, we were 1-0 up against 10 men at home.

“The stats at the time showed we were the dominant team.

“Anything can happen in football but you have to take everything into account and I don't feel the EFL did that.

"We can't dwell on it too much.

“We have a good squad, good staff and an environment where we can put it into the back of our heads."

Blackburn were 1-0 ahead against Ipswich, but will now have to earn the chance at those three points again when they meet at a rescheduled time.

Valerien Ismael’s side are now 22nd in the Championship table, having won just two of their seven fixtures, but they do have this game in hand on their rivals.

Next up for Rovers is a home clash against Stoke City on 4 October in a 12.30pm kick-off.

Blackburn have to move on from EFL decision

Leading after 80 minutes with a man up does suggest that Rovers would’ve won the game, but there’s no way of telling.

The water logged pitch also would’ve been a contributing factor in how the game played out prior to being abandoned after 80 minutes.

Perhaps a rule change could be put in place, but a replay of this game isn’t a totally outrageous decision and Blackburn could just win that fixture whenever it’s rescheduled.

It is a bit of a let off for Ipswich if they can get a result from the replay, but that’s just football at the end of the day.