Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski was absent as Tony Mowbray’s side defeated Preston North End on Saturday afternoon.
The Belgian shot-stopper sat out for the first time this season, having played in all 21 of Blackburn Rovers’ games across all competitions until yesterday.
Kaminski sat out due to an abdominal muscle injury sustained in the victory over Stoke City. Aynsley Pears came on to see out a 1-0 win over the Potters and started in between the sticks again on Saturday, helping Rovers to another 1-0 win.
READ: Plenty of Blackburn Rovers fans hail ‘superb’ player performance vs Preston North End
Now, Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray has provided an update on Kaminski’s fitness following the win over their Lancashire rivals.
As quoted by the Lancashire Telegraph, Mowbray said that Kaminski is in with a “chance” of returning against Bournemouth next weekend. Despite the ‘keeper’s confidence that he’ll be fit, the Rovers manager insisted that they will keep assessing him as the week goes on.
Here’s what he had to say:
“I think he’s got a chance.
“The scans have a strain to the stomach muscles, rather than a tear, so he’ll build it up bit by bit. He’ll see how much pain he has and then of course if we decide to play him and he’s not 100% repaired them a strain could become a tear and those are the decisions you have to make.
“We’ll assess him through the week and see how he gets on.
“He’s pretty positive in his mindset and that he’ll be ready for next week which is a positive for us.”
In his absence…
Former Middlesbrough shot-stopper Pears has come into the side while Kaminski recovers, giving him a long-awaited shot at first-team football.
The 23-year-old’s only appearance before Kaminski’s injury came for Rovers’ U23s. Overall, Pears has played only six times for Blackburn since joining from Middlesbrough last year. He has a decent clean sheet record in his few outings, managing three clean sheets.
If Kaminski is forced on the sidelines once again, Pears can surely expect to start once more as he looks to make the most of a run in the side.
