Rovers will struggle to keep Duff, says Curtis

By David Anderson

BLACKBURN defender John Curtis admits that the Ewood Park club will have to fight hard to keep hold of his Republic of Ireland teammate Damien Duff following his impressive World Cup display.

The transfer-listed full-back said that he has been impressed by the performances of many of his club teammates, but in particular by the young Irish winger.

“Its been fantastic to see so many Blackburn players performing well at the World Cup this month and I bet Tugay and Hakan Unsal must be pinching themselves to see if they really are still out there in Japan preparing for a World Cup semi-final! I’m pleased for them, but I only wish it was England facing Turkey instead of Brazil.

“Some of the results in the competition so far have been completely unpredictable, but the excellent performances of Damien Duff and Brad Friedel have come as no surprise to me. I did say before the tournament began that they’d shine and I’m chuffed to have seen my predictions come true,” he said.

“Because I’ve been abroad on holiday for a few weeks I haven’t been able to watch all of the games but from what I have seen and heard, Duffers was running rings round some of the game’s best defenders. He is so full of confidence right now, its frightening. When he’s in that sort of mood he can be almost unstoppable when running at defenders with the ball - as Spain ’s superstars in particular found out first hand.

“I really hope Blackburn can hang on to Duffers for next season because I’m sure he’ll terrorise Premiership defences in just the same manner. The only problem is that all of the big clubs are bound to be sniffing around him between now and August. If he does stay at Ewood Park I think we’ll have done very well.”

Meanwhile, the Republic of Ireland’s Ipswich-based midfielder Matt Holland has put all talks over his future on hold while he takes a well-earned break.

Holland has been linked with several clubs this summer following Ipswich’s relegation from the Premiership.

His reputation rose considerably after his impressive performances for Ireland at the World Cup in the Far East.

“I have said before it was always inevitable after our relegation that many of the players would become involved in transfer stories,” Holland said yesterday.

“I don’t intend to think about my future. After 11 months of football without a break, I want to go away with my family and forget everything.”