JOHN Filan today pledged to stay at Ewood and fight for the number one jersey.

The Aussie stopper has been frozen out of the first team picture since Tony Parkes axed him in favour of Alan Kelly 12 games ago.

But with the Republic of Ireland now set to miss six weeks due to an ankle injury, Filan was set to start a game for the first time since October against Wolves today.

And despite his obvious displeasure at being dropped in the first place, the 29-year-old has insisted he does not want to leave the club.

"I'm one of the players who has been left on the sidelines since Tony came in and it's been hard to take," said Filan.

"It had taken two years of hard work under the previous two managers to establish myself as the club's number one so to suddenly be dropped was disappointing.

"I've not been given any reasons why - Tony just said he wanted to change things around a bit.

"And, fair credit to Alan Kelly, he's done very well since he came in.

"But although it's been difficult, I've never thought of asking for a transfer.

"When we went down at the end of last season I said I was going to stay and that's the way I'm still thinking."

Filan has been troubled by a persistent shoulder problem recently which has also hampered his chances of winning back the number one spot. But he has delayed having an operation in order to solve Rovers' current keeper crisis.

And he will play through the pain barrier today, if he's chosen ahead of Northern Ireland international Alan Fettis against Wolves.

Meanwhile, Tony Parkes will not be swooping in the January sales unless further injuries force him into the transfer market.

The Ewood chief has gone on record as saying the current squad is already top-heavy.

But his resources are being severely stretched at the minute with the likes of Kelly, Ashley Ward, Nathan Blake, Craig Short and Keith Gillespie all currently missing.

And further problems may force Parkes's hand.

"With everybody fit I don't see too many problems, although obviously things change very quickly in football," said Parkes.

"We never close the door on anybody and we are always looking to see if we can improve the squad.

"There's always a chance we may bring somebody in.

"It will be a big part of my job and we'll have to wait and see what happens.

"There's no problem in buying players when we feel we need them.

"I don't think Jack Walker has been any different whoever has been in charge of the club.

"He is always willing to spend money."

However, the Rovers chief could soon have some good news on the injury front with Gillespie now nearing full fitness. The Northern Ireland international has been out since September after damaging his ankle against Portsmouth in the Worthington Cup.

But he has been back in training for a couple of weeks and now needs games to get back his match sharpness.

With the lack of reserve games over the festive period, Rovers tried to arrange a senior friendly in order to give him some action.

But they were unable to fix anything up and he's now been pencilled in for a run out in the next reserve outing.

"He's just short of match-fitness because he hasn't played for a long time," said Parkes.

"He's training hard and he's fit for training but just not match fit."

Meanwhile, Wolves manager Colin Lee was hoping to bring back three of his first team squad for this afternoon's game against Rovers.

Scott Taylor, Steve Sedgley and Adrian Williams were all ruled out of their 1-0 win over Norwich because of flu.

Tickets are now on sale for Rovers' clash with Huddersfield at Ewood on January 15.

Prices range from £15-20 for adults, £10 for senior citizens and £8 for juniors.

They can be purchased in person at the ticket office, by postal application or by calling the ticket hotline on 08080 10 10 10.

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