Two key Blackburn Rovers figures to follow John Eustace to Derby County | OneFootball

Blackburn Rovers have suffered another blow courtesy of Derby County

Both Matt Gardiner and Keith Downing are expected to follow John Eustace to Derby County from Blackburn Rovers.

According to Rob Dorsett, the pair will follow the 45-year-old to Pride Park and remain a part of his coaching staff.

Downing and Gardiner have both worked with Eustace as an assistant coach at Birmingham City and Blackburn.

The 59 and 50-year-olds are very experienced coaches at this level, and have also worked with the likes of Steven Schumacher, Steve McClaren and Mark Warburton.

Blackburn Rovers set to lose coaching duo

It is expected that Eustace will sign on the dotted line at Derby on Wednesday following talks between the two parties.

Blackburn released a statement on Monday confirming that the Rams triggered an exit clause in the manager’s contract, which allowed him to enter into contract negotiations over a move.

It is now believed that the final details have been ironed out and that Eustace will make a return to the club where he finished his playing career, spending two years with the team.

It has been reported that both Gardiner and Downing will join up with Eustace at the Derbyshire outfit.

However, it remains unclear as to whether they will be in the dugout at the Hawthorns on Wednesday evening for Rovers’ clash with West Brom.

Derby will be hoping to find a resolution as quickly as possible, with the team battling against relegation to League One this season.

John Eustace’s Blackburn stint

Eustace has earned a lot of praise for his work at Blackburn over the last 12 months, bringing them from relegation battlers to a top six push.

The Lancashire outfit will go into tonight’s meeting against the Baggies sitting inside a play-off place.

Meanwhile, Derby are in danger of falling back into the relegation zone after they drew 0-0 with Oxford United on Tuesday night.

The draw moved the Rams ahead of 22nd place Hull City due to a superior goals scored record.

Blackburn Rovers left to start from scratch

Blackburn will now have to appoint a whole new coaching staff with their next appointment, allowing for no continuity with what Eustace was doing.

This is not too surprising though, given Gardiner and Downing both worked with Eustace when he was at Birmingham as well.

Tonight’s clash with West Brom has come at a bad time for the club, which won’t help their top six hopes, as they are without their main coaching team.

It is a damning situation for Rovers to find themselves in, given Derby are battling relegation while they fight for promotion, but the Rams have proven a more appealing destination.