STEVEN Nzonzi says it was ‘hard’ to see Blackburn Rovers ‘fall apart’ as he get sets to make his first competitive return to Ewood Park.

Nzonzi joined Stoke City in a £3.5m deal in the summer of 2012 after Rovers, then managed by Steve Kean, had been relegated from the Premier League.

The Frenchman had first arrived at the club three years earlier when Sam Allardyce was in charge and before current owners Venky’s took it over from the Jack Walker Trust.

 “It was really strange,” said Nzonzi in an interview with the Daily Mail. “I don’t really get what happened, even now.

“The first season there we finished 10th in the league with Sam Allardyce. The second season wasn’t bad either.

“After that they changed everything – the owners, the manager, I don’t even know why. So many players left and then it was a completely different club. It fell apart.

“Just look at the players they brought in. Obviously they weren’t David Beckham or Ronaldinho, like they said.

“What can you do? That’s football. But when players leave the club because they’re not happy it’s not easy.

“When you see a player like Chris Samba not playing anymore and Michel Salgado just disappear, obviously you know the team will fall apart.

“I didn’t play the last four games. I got really mad in training and had an argument with the manager (Kean).

“It’s hard as a player when you see everything change and decisions are made that you don’t expect so I got angry. After that I didn’t play and we were relegated. It was a really hard season.”

Nzonzi is expected to be part of the Stoke side that takes on Rovers in this afternoon’s FA Cup fifth-round tie.