DANNY Guthrie is targeting a return to the Blackburn Rovers side before the international break - after admitting watching his luckless team struggle has been difficult.

The midfielder arrived on a free transfer in the summer, and after nailing down a place in the side with four successive starts he suffered a thigh injury in the draw at Hull which has kept him sidelined for the past month.

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Rovers won their first match without Guthrie, an impressive 2-0 win over Ipswich at Ewood Park, but defeats to MK Dons and Burnley, and a goalless draw with Derby, have followed.

And while the 28-year-old said it had been frustrating that the bright start to his Rovers career had been brought to a halt, it had been particularly tough to be powerless to help his team in what has proved to be a testing week.

“I was playing well, I’d found a rhythm and started a good partnership with Corry (Evans) and the team and myself were playing well,” the former Liverpool man said of his form before the injury.

“It’s been a difficult time, the worst thing is watching the boys grafting and the luck not going your way and you can’t help.”

Guthrie came off eight minutes into the clash at the KC Stadium on September 26, and he revealed he had suffered a complication recently which has delayed his return to first-team action.

But he has been back training on the grass at Brockhall since last Thursday, and he is keen to return to the team before the action stops for the next international break in three weeks time.

“I had a thigh injury that I picked up in the Hull game,” he said. “As I was getting back from that I was running and I had a problem with my calf, I had to wait for that to settle down and then I started again outside last week.

“I’m back outside now doing some running and ball work, so I should be joining in with the team this week, and hopefully within the next week I’ll be fit for selection.

“I want to get back fit and available before the international break and then there will be a two week period where I can get some good training in and be raring to go after the break.”

And Guthrie knows Rovers have to start turning performances into points.

“This week has been a difficult week for us with two losses and a decent point at home against what I think is a really good side in Derby who will do well this year,” he said.

“The performance was good on Saturday, but when you don’t score in your period you’re a bit vulnerable and they took their chance and saw the game go out.

“We need to find some consistency in our results, I think the performances are not a million miles away, but we all know it’s a result business and sooner or later we need to start picking points up.”