Paul Lambert has admitted he would like his former Blackburn team to stay in the Sky Bet Championship – but only after Wolves have beaten them at Molineux tomorrow (3pm).
Lambert spent six months as Blackburn boss last season, including presiding over their 0-0 draw at Molineux this time last year, before deciding to activate a release clause in his contract and leave at the end of the season.
Now firmly focused on his new challenge at Wolves, he wishes Rovers all the best, but only after tomorrow.
“It’s a really good club and there are some really good people there that have been there for years,” says the Head Coach.
“I was involved in it and could probably see the problems that were starting. “That’s why I decided to leave because I thought it wasn’t right, what was happening there.
“We have to win on Saturday. I’d love them to stay up, but I want us to beat them.
“Blackburn are in a really precarious position.
“Owen (Coyle) came in and tried to do his best, Tony (Mowbray) has gone in and it’s been up and down.
“It’s difficult for them. I can understand the supporters, it’s not nice for them because nobody knows what’s happening with the club, nobody speaks to tell people what’s going on.
“It’s a very difficult situation for them. I feel sorry for the supporters, they’re a loyal bunch, I’m not sure they deserve not being told what’s happening.”
Blackburn remain locked in the battle to avoid relegation from the Championship, but Wolves ensured their second tier status for next season courtesy of Monday’s impressive win at Leeds.
Lambert was always confident they could do it, and is now hoping for a strong end to the campaign to take into next season.
“In my mind I was always calm,” he says.
“The last nine games we’ve won six, drawn one and lost two, and one of those was against a team that’s going up.
“So the form has been incredible. Even the games when we were losing, one or two we should never have lost, the Birmingham and Wigan games, take a draw.
“I think that (guaranteeing Championship status) will transmit to the stands and the supporters.
“We want to finish as high as we can – we don’t want to ease up. There are other teams fighting for their lives so you owe it to them to perform.
“It might make the fans turn up a bit more relaxed and I’m pretty sure there will be great atmospheres.”
*There will be a pre-match collection tomorrow in aid of POWER PLEAS, the local charity which provides wheelchairs and mobility aids for local youngsters. This will be the first of their annual collections at Wolves since the passing of Baroness Rachael Heyhoe Flint, a patron and huge supporter of the charity, which is naming tomorrow as ‘Rachael’s Day’ in her memory.
