A PICTURE is worth a thousand words, goes the old maxim, and for Owen Coyle the backdrop to Danny Graham’s winner at Derby County said all you need to know about Blackburn Rovers’ burgeoning team spirit.

And Coyle insists it is a team spirit which was not generated by the comeback victories over Derby and Rotherham United before that, but by the moment the summer transfer window slammed shut.

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“There’s no doubt until the transfer window closed it was a huge hindrance in respect the rife and incessant speculation about players coming out of contract,” said the Rovers boss, whose side will aim to make it three wins on the spin tonight when they host Sheffield Wednesday.

“Players’ heads were turned. We couldn’t wait for the window to close because, with no loan system now, the group you have is the group you have.

“The group will realise that and they know they need to knuckle down and play well if they want to be in the team.

“I certainly believed as soon as that window closed it would help us a group and I think that’s happened. The players are focused, they are working hard, and while we know we’re not the finished article, we also know progressively we’ve been getting better.

“The players are leaving everything on the field to try and win games. That’s what we want. We want Blackburn Rovers to be known as a team that works their socks off. With quality, yes, but a team that every time they enter the field they give it everything they’ve got.

“We’ve shown that of late but we’ve got to do that over the period of the whole season.”

Rovers failed to win any of their opening seven league matches and saw Shane Duffy follow captain and centre-back partner Grant Hanley out of the exit door.

But they managed to keep hold of Ben Marshall after he stated he would like to remain with the club.

And Coyle, who confirmed ‘positive talks’ are continuing with the winger’s representative, said: “You need a group that want to be at the club and when the transfer window closed we had boys who wanted to be here.

“As much as there was speculation about Ben, he came to me before the window closed to say, ‘I really like it here, can we look to do something’. That spoke volumes.

“It would have been easier for him to say, ‘I want to go’, like one or two others did, but he said, ‘I want to be here, I want to play my part’. And the group sensed that.

“If you actually get a chance to look at the winning goal on Saturday, as much as it was a wonderful goal, there is something that was better for me.

“Hope Akpan and Darragh Lenihan are warming up at the side of the field and when Danny Graham puts the ball in the back of the net those two are going ballistic. That sums up team spirit.

“That’s boys who want to be in the team, who are good enough to be in the team, but at the moment they are on the bench. But they’re still playing their part, willing their team-mates on. That’s a huge thing to have at any club.”