GARRY Flitcroft last night leapt to the defence of Souness after Keith Gillespie became the latest player to launch a stinging attack on the Rovers boss.

Just 24 hours after David Dunn accused Souness of hounding him out of Ewood, Gillespie then accused his former boss of being arrogant as he completed a free transfer move to Leicester.

And the Northern Ireland international then went a step further by claiming at least 10 of the current Rovers squad felt the same way.

However, Flitcroft moved quickly to rubbish Gillespie's claims by insisting the dressing room is totally united.

"There is a great team spirit here. You don't have the success that we've had here in the last three years without a good team spirit," said Flitcroft.

"From my point of view the dressing-room atmosphere is very good.

"Players usually leave a club because they are unhappy.

"Keith and Dunny both played a massive part in this club doing well in the last few years.

"But to say that 10 or 12 of the squad are unhappy is simply not true.

"You don't get the kind of results we've been getting if you have a bad dressing room.

"As I've said before, this is the best team spirit I've seen at the club in all the time I've been here.

"We've got a good mix of young and experienced players and the fact that people like me, Craig Short and Alan Kelly have all signed new contracts recently says it all about the spirit.

"At the end of the day, when you've got a squad of 22 then some people are going to get upset at being left out.

"But the manager isn't paid to make friends, his job is to get results for this club and you can't argue with what he's done over the last three years."

Flitcroft also had a special word of praise for the way Souness has been with him during his time at the helm.

"Ever since I've been here he has been as good as gold to me. He puts everything into the job and he will do well for us over the next few seasons.

"There's a real will to win here and a desire to do well. We've made additions to the squad which should be good for us."

Earlier, Gillespie had accused Souness of ignoring him during his time at Ewood as he finally completed a move to Leicester.

"I didn't have too many dealings with the manager. I mostly kept out of his way," said Gillespie.

"Stupid things went on. I would be walking down the corridor and wouldn't even get a good morning.

"I never confronted him - that's the way he is. I didn't lose sleep over it.

"As an employee of the club I don't think you should be treated in that sort of way. I have no idea why he had that attitude towards me.

"I am not the first to fall out with him and I won't be the last.

"I was hurt by the way he treated me towards the end. I was in the team one week and not even in the squad the next.

"The treatment at the end just summed it up.

"It was his arrognace about the place. I could name 10 or 12 players who felt the same way about the managers but that wouldn't be fair on them to name names."