Blackburn’s attention was with Bradley Dack as they played out a lifeless draw against Bristol City

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Blackburn and Bristol City played out a drab affair at Ewood Park, but Rovers thoughts were elsewhere as Bradley Dack’s long term injury suffering was recognised.

Dack has been influential in recent weeks, providing one of the main sparks in Blackburn’s upturn in form following a long run of games without a win.

Tony Mowbray’s shift to a false nine opened up space for Dack to exploit in the number ten and it had paid dividends as he created a number of chances in the final third.

But now Bradley Dack has to contend with another long spell on the sidelines.

This is not his first rodeo when it comes to an anterior cruciate ligament injury and he showed the resilience and drive to recover from it in the first instance, but it will be a major test of his mental fortitude to recover again this time round.

Many fans perceive footballers to be emotionless robots that simply cash their cheque and have no reason to feel pain or suffering.

“I’m sure they’ll be crying when they’re on £20,000 a week” is the shout you here.

Yet, footballers do have their share of pain and in Dack’s case this is going to be an incredibly tough time for him.

Football is his livelihood; it is what he has worked the vast majority of his life towards. Careers in this sport are short and to lose what could be a calendar year of that to yet another injury is heart-breaking.

Dack is a player that has enthralled EFL supporters for years now and you can tell by the reaction of Blackburn players, who warmed up in t-shirts showing their togetherness with the midfielder, that this is a big loss to the Blackburn squad.

The Greenwich-born midfielder began his EFL venture with Gillingham, making his debut in 2012 following a prolific pre-season, having spent five years in their youth ranks.

He never looked back from that moment.

Awarded Gillingham’s 2012/13 young player of the season award in his debut campaign having made 20 appearances, scoring two goals, he was already one of the hottest prospects in the league.

That affinity with the Gills only grew as his development progressed, quickly becoming their main man, sweeping every club award at the end of the 2014/15 season after 10 goals in 50 appearances dragged his side into a respectable league finish.

But it was 2015/16 that made Dack the special talent that he is.

15 goals and 11 assists in 44 appearances that season saw keen interest from a number of Championship clubs for his services, although it was not until 2017 that he finally made the move to Blackburn.

18 goals in 42 league appearances saw him named EFL League One player of the year as Blackburn stormed the division with Dack playing a pivotal role in that.

But that momentum of progression was brutally halted by an anterior cruciate ligament injury in December 2019 against Wigan.

From then he had to battle with setback after setback but the strength and determination to come back stronger helped him through and after just over a year out, he returned to action against Sheffield Wednesday in December 2020.

Since then he has played a major role in the upturn in fortunes for Tony Mowbray after numerous questions from supporters over his position.

Dack and Dolan have formed a cool, proficient partnership and Dack’s creative qualities have opened up a new dimension to Rovers’ play.

So a recurrence of such a brutal injury is a major blow to both the player and the club, but also to EFL fans as a whole.

The Championship deserves players like Bradley Dack and Dack deserves to test himself at the highest level.

He has provided so many brilliant moments over many years in the EFL now and you cannot help but feel the league is worse off without a player of his talents.

The hope now is that he can come back stronger from this, judging by his career so far, he will no doubt jump through yet another hoop.

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