Swede hails Rovers' temporary duo (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Swede hails Rovers' temporary duo

9:01am Thursday 10th January 2013 in Football

MARTIN Olsson insists Blackburn Rovers are in safe hands under caretaker boss Gary Bowyer – after admitting he has already played a big part in his own career.

The Swedish international played under Bowyer as he came through the youth ranks at Ewood Park and is now relishing being reunited with him as he continues in temporary charge of the first team.

How long Olsson will be at Ewood Park remains to be seen, with Premier League side West Ham having already had a bid rejected for the full back and numerous other clubs tracking him.

The 24-year-old has declined to comment on his own future as he focuses on Rovers’ Championship challenge.

He said: “Gary is putting his name forward with this run of results. Everyone loves him at the club so that is a good thing. The feedback he gives us helps us all out.

“I am very happy with Gary in charge, I have known him since I was 17. I have learnt a lot of things from him and he is still giving me feedback now.

“I have only good things to say about him. We will see how long he is here but I have only good things to say about him at the moment.

“He trusts all his players and he has told us to go out there and express ourselves. Everyone has done that and it is looking good.”

Olsson played a starring role in Saturday’s comfortable 2-0 FA Cup third round win over Bristol City as Rovers made it three straight wins under Bowyer and Terry McPhillips.

The run represents a dramatic upturn in fortunes, having previously lost four in a row under former boss Henning Berg, and Olsson is looking to continue the run at Wolves tomorrow night.

“It was a good win and good for the confidence, so hopefully we can carry that on into the next game,” said Olsson. “You can even see in training that we have been playing with a lot of confidence.

“We have been working hard in training and if you do that, it will come out in games as we have shown. “We have to look forward and not think about the past. “We have to take each game as they come and start picking up some points because it is looking good now.

“You can’t ignore everything but we have to try. “Negative things are always coming out but we have to put that away and focus on the football.

“We have been doing that and Gary has been taking good care of us. We have been through a lot of negative things but we want to change that around and look forward to the positives.

“The last couple of games we have shown what football we can play. “Things have been going alright, I was out for a while and it was tough when I came back. But right now I feel a lot more fit.”