STEVE Kean is confident Blackburn Rovers’ want-away defender Chris Samba will be welcomed back into the dressing room after again insisting he is not for sale.

Samba did not travel with Rovers to Goodison Park as he continues to demand a move away from Ewood Park but, with no games now until the transfer window shuts, Kean is confident things will return to ‘business to usual’.

It is understood Samba has incurred the wrath of some of his team-mates over the past couple of weeks, having now missed the last two games, but Kean is confident Rovers’ camp is ready to put the saga behind them.

The Rovers boss, said: “I wouldn’t imagine it would affect the dressing room. We’ve got a strong dressing room.

“We’ve got a lot of big characters in there like Paul Robinson, Morten Gamst Pedersen, David Dunn, the Yak. We’ve got big personalities so Chris will be fine.

“He’s always shown that once the window closes he gets back to his business and his performances have never dipped.”

QPR have already had two bids for the defender rejected, albeit both understood to be under £5m, while Spurs are believed to be interested.

Kean though insists it does not matter how much anyone is prepared to bid because any efforts to lure him away from Ewood will be rebuffed.

“I’ve said to the directors I really don’t want to know if there’s been any bids for any of the players leading up to the game.,” said Kean.

“At the start of the week I will sit down with the directors and ask, ‘Where are we at with bids?’.

“It didn’t matter what the bid was from who. He wasn’t for sale but today I thought it was better he got his head together and he’ll be back on the training ground next week.

“We’re not selling him. It’s as simple as that. The statement we realised was very, very strong. It’s not a statement to try and get people bidding against each other.

“He’s not going to be moving in this window and that’s very firm.

“It was fantastic backing that the owners put out that statement.”

Samba has revealed his desire to move to a more ambitious club on several occasions during his Ewood career and Kean is confident the defender can move on from here with Rovers.

“I don’t know how he’s going to react,” said Kean. “Hopefully he will react in the way he’s reacted before.

“There’s been interest before in previous windows. He’s not left the club and he’s been excellent.

“When the window has closed in the past he’s been excellent and got back to his work.

“His performance this season have been exceptional as they have been since he's been at the club.”