TONY’S PRAYING LA ROJA DO NOT PICK BEN
BLACKBURN boss Tony Mowbray is hoping to avoid a club versus country row later this month.
Mowbray is expecting Ben Brereton Diaz to be called up by Chile for their clash with Brazil on March 24, despite the striker damaging ankle ligaments against West Brom last month.
Brereton Diaz, 22, is making good progress in his recovery, but was not pencilled in to return until after the international break.
Mowbray said of the situation with Chile: “Ben Brereton Diaz is ahead of schedule. Debates are being had at the moment around his international situation.
“It looks as if Chile are going to call him up. They want their medical people to have a look at him. We’ve had discussions with their technical director.
“He can only play if he’s fit. It’s right on the cusp, but he won’t be fully fit because he won’t
have played for five to six weeks. Yet with the FIFA rules, they can call him up.
“Are they going to play Brereton against one of the best teams in the world if he’s not fit? They’d be mad to do that.
“Or are they that desperate that they will play an injured player? Surely they’ve got another striker that is fit.”
Bradley Dack’s long-awaited return has bolstered a Rovers side that has struggled for goals in the absence of Brereton Diaz, but Mowbray has warned fans not to expect too much, too soon from the 28-year-old attacking midfielder.
He said: “He’s not the Dack of two-and-a-half years ago. But when I watch him in training, he knows where the back of the net is.
“He feels as if his injury is secure. There’s no real shortcut to getting a player ready.”