BLACKBURN Rovers have denied that academy manager Phil Cannon has left the club.

Instead the club released a statement saying that Cannon, who has been in charge of Rovers’ youth set-up for more than five years, ‘is taking some time off for personal reasons’.

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Cannon has been at Rovers since September 2009 after departing Derby where he held a similar position. Before that he was head of academy recruitment at Everton and a youth development officer at Swindon.

There have been changes to the Rovers academy coaching set-up recently with former Preston coach and Wrexham assistant manager Billy Barr taking over the under-16s side.