John Eustace is the early frontrunner to replace Jon Dahl Tomasson at Blackburn Rovers, The Lancashire Telegraph can reveal.

Tomasson looks set to leave Rovers after 19 months at Ewood Park. The relationship between the Danish head coach and Rovers board has reached breaking point after the failed registration of Duncan McGuire.

Tension has grown behind the scenes since the summer after Venky's cut the transfer budget due to their issues in India. Tomasson viewed this as 'a new project' and offered his resignation but the club asked him to stay.

After being blocked from speaking to the media last Friday, the head coach didn't hold back when speaking after the 2-1 defeat to Queens Park Rangers. With the situation becoming untenable and results on the field poor after one win in 11 Championship games, they have decided to part company.

Rather than look for a caretaker boss, Eustace has emerged as an early favourite to succeed Tomasson in the dug out. The 44-year-old was last in work at Birmingham City, where he was controversially sacked.

Despite having the Blues in the play-off places, Eustace was dismissed in October and replaced by Wayne Rooney. That infuriated the Birmingham fans and Rooney's reign was a disaster. He was subsequently replaced by former Rovers boss Tony Mowbray.

Eustace has been linked with a host of Championship posts since leaving Birmingham such as Bristol City and Millwall. It's our understanding that he is admired by the Rovers board and leads the running to come in as the new head coach.

The former midfielder has built a reputation in the game for his work on the training ground and is highly rated. He started his managerial career at Kidderminster Harriers before taking assistant manager roles at Queens Park Rangers and the Republic of Ireland.

Eustace spent 15 months in charge at Birmingham and was lauded for the work he had done in difficult circumstances before the club's takeover. 

Rovers face a crucial 10 days on the pitch with Stoke City first up on Saturday at Ewood Park. They then travel to St Andrew's, Eustace's former club, for another relegation six-pointer before a trip to Deepdale to face Preston North End.