BLACKBURN Rovers midfielder Danny Guthrie says he has been told he can leave the club before the transfer window closes tomorrow night.

Guthrie was handed his first start of the season in Saturday’s 1-0 home loss to his former club Fulham.

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It was the 29-year-old’s reward for his performance off the bench in the midweek 4-3 victory over Crewe Alexandra in the EFL Cup.

But Guthrie’s hopes of helping Rovers to their first league win were dashed when he had to come off 20 minutes into the second half after a clash of heads with new team-mate Tommie Hoban.

The former Liverpool and Newcastle United man required 12 stitches in the dressing room from where he discovered Fulham had snatched a late victory.

And afterwards Guthrie, who was an unused substitute for the first five games of the campaign, said: “It is good to be back involved.

“It’s been difficult for me. I’ve had to be patient and professional, which you have to be, but is not always easy, and I’ve got my own situation going on.

“I’ve been told I can go, so it’s a difficult situation, but I’ve been waiting for my chance and I was delighted to get on in the cup and I was delighted to start today.

“I thought I was doing okay until the accident. Hopefully I can kick on but we’ll just have to see what happens in the next couple of days.

“I think it could be either (loan or permanent). We’ll just have to see what happens.

“It benefits everyone if I play well. If I play well and there are teams watching, then it benefits me, but I’ve also got a responsibility to the club and my team-mates and when you go and play you want to be the best player.

“So that was never going to be an issue.”

Guthrie has made 19 appearances for Rovers since signing a two-year contract on the eve of last season.

And asked if he would continue to knuckle down if he was still at the club come Thursday, he said: “Of course, yes.

“If I’m here, I’m available to be picked, and the manager said when he first came in that if you play well you keep the shirt, and hopefully I’ve done enough to do that.

“But we’ll wait and see what happens over the next few days.”

Of the sickening clash with debutant Hoban, Guthrie said: “I am all right now. I didn’t know much about it but I’ve had my stitches and I’ll be fine.

“I was waiting for the doc to come in and I heard a cheer and I didn’t know which way it had gone.

“I got told the bad news and it was disappointing because I thought it was the best we’ve done this season against a good side.

“We did say the least we wanted to get was a clean sheet and a 0-0. So it was a sick feeling.”

Rovers return to action at QPR on Saturday week and Guthrie said: “I think there’s been a progression this week, from getting our first point, then winning a decent cup tie, and then performing better without getting the result, which is the all-important thing.

“But if you want to take some positives, then I definitely think we can after this week.”

Rovers boss Owen Coyle was last night continuing his attempts to add to his squad before the window shuts at 11pm tomorrow.