Rovers to Russia for ex-Ewood stars set for the World stage

The last players under contract at the club to feature in a World Cup were in 2010 when Ryan Nelsen (New Zealand), Lars Jacobsen (Denmark), Brett Emerton and Vince Grella (both Australia) were all selected. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t Rovers connections to look out for in Russia.

Here are six players previously on Rovers’ books, five of which played in the same Sam Allardyce squad, set to feature.

• Martin Olsson - Sweden

Olsson was brought through the Rovers ranks after joining from Swedish side Högaborgs BK in 2006.

It was in a UEFA Cup qualifier against Finnish side MyPA-47 that Olsson made his Rovers bow, before his first start in a League Cup tie win over Birmingham in September 2007. He made two Premier League appearances in 2006/07, both coming against Derby.

Named the club’s young player of the season in 2007/08, he penned a four year deal and he made 15 appearances the following season which saw him score in a League Cup win over Everton.

One of his most infamous moments in a Rovers shirt came in the 1-0 win at Turf Moor in October 2010 when he admitted taking a dive to win a penalty which David Dunn dispatched to hand Rovers victory.

Olsson signed another long-term deal in 2010 but left for Norwich in 2013 for a fee of £2.5million after 143 Rovers appearances.

He could come up against Rovers next season having signed for Swansea for £4million in January 2017 where he was relegated from the Premier League for the fourth time in his career, one short of Nathan Blake and Hermann Hreidarsson.

Olsson 42 caps to his name and will be playing in his second  World Cup.

• Phil Jones - England

Homegrown Jones made his Rovers debut in a League Cup tie win at Nottingham Forest in November 2009 at just 17, seven years after first joining the club. He had just turned 18 when he made a stunning Premier League debut in a 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Ewood.

His fearless approach saw him play in a further eight league games, deployed in a holding midfield role in front of Chris Samba and Ryan Nelsen.

The plaudits and praise continued in 2010/11 when Jones became a fixture in the starting XI, despite a spell out injured and a move away seemed a matter of certainty.

That came in the summer of 2011, Sir Alex Ferguson believing he had captured a future captain of England when signing him for his £16.5million release clause.

The first of his 25 England caps came in October 2011. Has won a Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League medal.

• Jamie Maclaren – Australia

Joined Rovers in 2008 after a scoring a hat-trick against Manchester United while on trial as a 15-year-old. A deal soon followed and the Melbourne-striker spent four years in the club’s youth system.

However, the prospect never made the next step and left Rovers in 2013 after being unable to break in to the first-team.

In his native Australia, he was regularly on the scoresheet in the A-League during spells with both Perth Glory and Brisbane Roar that prompted German Bundesliga 2 side, Darmstadt, to sign him in 2017. But in his first season in European football, Maclaren failed to find the net or make a league start.

Hibernian took a chance on the 24-year-old who scored eight times in 15 outings, including a final day hat-trick against Rangers.

On the international front, Maclaren has five caps for Australia. He was initially left out of the Socceroos squad, but made the final cut for Russia.

• Nikola Kalinic - Croatia

Following the departure of Roque Santa Cruz to Manchester City in 2009, and Chris Samba having finished the previous season employed as an emergency striker, Allardyce strengthened his frontline with the then 21-year-old for £6million from Hadjuk Split.

He made his debut in a 2-1 defeat at Sunderland and Kalinic’s first Rovers goal came in a 5-2 League Cup win over Peterborough.

Four more goals in the cup competitions followed before he broke his Premier League duck with the winner against Wigan in January.

He scored just once more that season but enjoyed a more prolific start to the 2010/11 campaign with two goals in his first four appearances.

However, the end of Allardyce in November 2010 also spelled the end for Kalinic who slipped down the pecking order.

Kalinic left for Dnipro in the summer of 2011 for an undisclosed fee after seven Premier League goals in 44 appearances.

He now plays for AC Milan, with his loan deal from Fiorentina set to be made permanent for a fee in the region of £20m.

• Steven Nzonzi - France

With comparisons to Patrick Vieira, Nzonzi was snapped up from Amiens in the summer of 2009.

Only 20, he soon became a fixture in the side, appearing in 38 games in his debut season scoring twice, en route to being named the club’s young player of the year.

That prompted an improved five-year deal and his languid style was winning many admirers.

But his discipline was to let him down in the 2010/11 campaign, and he would also lose his place as Phil Jones and Jermaine Jones became mainstays in the middle of the park.

In 2011/12, the year Rovers were relegated, Nzonzi featured in all but four games. He left the club, just three short of reaching a century of appearances, and moved to Stoke City for a fee in the region of £3million where he spent three years.

Now 29, and with Sevilla, he has been linked with a move to Arsenal.

• Mame Diouf - Senegal

The attacker joined Rovers on a season-long loan from Manchester United in the summer of 2010.

Allardyce boosted his attacking options with the arrival of the then 22-year-old who joined United from Molde in January 2010.

Things started well for Diouf, scoring just 15 minutes in to his first Rovers outing in the 1-1 draw with Hearts in a pre-season friendly.

And after two substitute appearances in Rovers’ opening two league games, he announced himself with a hat-trick in a League Cup tie win over Norwich at Ewood Park.

He then scored on his full Premier League debut in a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal.

Rovers finished in 15th place that season and Diouf’s time at Ewood ended with six goals from 19 starts and 11 substitute appearances.