BLACKBURN Rovers boss Owen Coyle says he is prepared to shoulder whatever criticism comes his way after being the subject of chanting from the away end for much of the second-half during the draw at Rotherham United.

The Rovers boss says he wasn’t surprised by that, particularly having fallen behind to a 47th minute Jon Taylor strike, but felt some of the chanting, in reference to his time in charge of rivals Burnley, was out of order.

And he called for the fans to continue backing the players, as they did throughout, and added: “If people have their opinions and if they think I’m the villain of the piece then so be it, but that won’t deter me.

“I’ve been in the game since I was 13, I know my qualities, I know equally what I need to get better at, and that’s what I will continue to do.

“I am prepared to stand out there and take everything that comes my way.

“I am not surprised by it, I have had it before.  It was not surprising that as soon as the goal went in from the deflected effort the attentions turns to me.  That won’t stop me going out there, and I’ve been in the game long enough to know that a deflected goal doesn’t take away from how much you’ve put in to the game.

“My only focus is that we get ourselves to safety, that’s what I was asked to do.

“If people have their opinions that’s fine. I think the only thing that let them down was in the second half some stuff about Burnley, and that’s not about the game.

“Whatever people sing, the bottom line is that I make sure the players are focussed, and apart from 10 minutes where they should have done better,  they did that and could easily have won that game by a couple of goals.

“I understand the frustrations of the fans, I get that, but we’re out there doing our very best with the players we’ve got to make sure that we can go and win games.

“We never inherited a team of champions, we inherited a team that if they hadn’t won the last two games of last season when there was nothing to play for, they would have finished 21st in the league.

“Some players have left since then, we will work with what we’ve got to keep the club safe, and when we do that, we need that investment.”

The travelling 1,195 fans were right behind the team as they went in search of a goal in the first-half, and after the break, and Coyle hopes they will keep giving backing to his young side.

He added: “In the first half I give them (the fans) real credit for getting behind the players, and when they do that it makes an unbelievable difference.

“What is important, when the fans have shown they will really get behind the team, the players really respond to that.

“When the players feel the fans are right behind them they show that.

“In the second period, out with the other stuff that was going on, they really got behind the team and that was great and I thank them for that.

“Whatever your opinions, keep backing those players because we have young players on that pitch and they need that help and encouragement from the fans to keep them going.”