OWEN Coyle says the contract saga involving Shane Duffy and Ben Marshall is like any other up and down the country.

The pair rejected new offers and have been heavily linked with Blackburn Rovers’ Championship rivals - Duffy with Brighton & Hove and Marshall with Fulham.

Reports of the Seagulls submitting a £4million bid for Duffy - who will sit out this afternoon’s game against Burton Albion following his red card at Cardiff City - are understood to be wide of the mark. 

But while the situation rumbles on, Coyle says he will just have to ‘adjust’ and move on.

“We made the offers last week in good faith, which was an increased offer from the original contract that they’re on, and their representatives came back and at this moment said they’d be looking for certainly not that - which is the best way I can put it,” said the Rovers boss.

“That was fine. At the end of the day it is up to us to look at that and decide to try to improve that again and try to get something sorted, and take it from there.

“It’s like any contract situation, it’s no different from anybody else’s.

“It is what it is and that’s the nature of the game.

“It’s ongoing, it happens up and down the country and you’ve got to adjust from there.”

Three league defeats and some shocking displays have upped the ante of fans’ fury, with calls for the board to resign and even the town’s MP, Kate Hollern, voicing her concern over the situation at Ewood Park.

But Coyle says he has to shut that out and concentrate on trying to get something out of the clash with the Brewers this afternoon.

“You have to because at the end of the day this is a wonderful football club; the history, the tradition, everything is at the club,” he said.

“The one constant at any club is the fans. While everybody comes and goes, the fans will always be here.

“Ultimately for us, we have to go on the field and try and build on a performance that the fans like and the fans can see.

“For example, if I use Craig Conway, they’re looking and think, ‘that’s the type of player I want to see at Blackburn Rovers’.

“The onus is on us, when we cross the white line, to give that level of performance.

“By doing that I think the fans have that identity and feeling for the players, and that’s the only way we can move forward.”

Coyle insists he was aware of the size of the task when he walked through the Ewood Park doors at the start of June and insists he is still trying to bring more players in to add to his options.

“We knew there was work to be done so it’s important we get those players in and pick up points and move on from there,” he said.

“If you want to wallow in self pity you’re no good to anybody, but if you want to try and affect that change then you come in, you knuckle down, you get on the training ground and, as I’ve mentioned to the owners, we look to improve that squad and look to help those that we have here.

“We do have some good players but you want to complement that in terms of numbers and make sure there is strength in depth to compete for those places.

“We need to continue pursuing the ones we are and try and get those over the line, and that’s what we’ll look to do.”