Blackburn notebook: Overseas workouts, Season Tickets, internationals

Here’s a round-up of some bite-sized Blackburn Rovers stories that may have escaped you over the last few days. Hedges snapped in warm-weather workout Ryan Hedges has been putting himself through his paces overseas to ensure he is ready for the new season with Blackburn Rovers. It was an injury-hit season for the Welshman, who is still recovering from a hamstring issue sustained at the end of last season. Rovers will be cautious with Hedges in pre-season and may keep him out of the early friendlies to ensure he is fully fit for the beginning of the campaign. However, that hasn’t stopped the 28-year-old from putting in the hard yards on his travels. Hedges has been pictured in a group training session alongside other professional footballers out in Dubai. Hedges was pictured with players from Preston North End, Leeds United, Fulham and Everton at the Elite Sports Performance facility in Dubai.

The ‘high-performance gym and rehabilitation centre’ links up with several footballers over the summer as players gear up to return for pre-season. It was formed in 2018 and is located in the Dubai Hills Estate.

Hedges was seen in videos posted on their Instagram page doing some running work and ball exercises as he prepares to return to Rovers on June 24.

Sigurdsson steps up injury return

After only featuring for eight minutes against England on Friday night, Arnor Sigurdsson was given more game time with Iceland on Monday night.

The winger missed the last six weeks of the season after damaging ankle ligaments on international duty. Sigurdsson has been training with Iceland for this June camp and came on in the latter stages at Wembley on Friday.

The 24-year-old was a second-half substitute during Iceland’s 4-0 defeat to The Netherlands, coming on in the 58th minute. Whilst it was an unhappy evening for the team, Rovers can be at least satisfied their player came through unscathed and got more minutes under his belt.

A first-half strike from Xavi Simons followed by efforts from Virgil van Dijk, Donyell Malen and Wout Weghorst, after the break, ensured a comfortable victory for Ronaldo Koeman’s side. That was their final match before heading off to the European Championships, which start this week.

Season Ticket milestone

Rovers have surpassed 5,000 Season Ticket sales after less than three weeks.

Seats for the 2024/25 campaign went on sale on May 24 to supporters. Rovers have now revealed they have sold more than 5,000 before the three-week mark.

2,000 of those were snapped up in the first seven days, with Rovers fans taking advantage of the early-bird discounts in phase one.

Rovers have reduced tickets to £349 in the lower bowl of the stadium for Ewood Park regulars, to mark the 30-year anniversary of their Premier League title win.

Rovers, in response to the new Sky Sports TV deal with the EFL, have invested a minimum of £500,000 of that revenue to reduce the cost of season tickets.

Phase one runs until Saturday, June 22 and the second phase begins on Thursday, June 27, with costs frozen at last year’s standard pricing.

The third and final phase begins on Monday, July 22.

Cirino earns international cap

Lenni Cirino made his first official appearance for Montserrat over the weekend, setting up their equaliser in a 4-1 defeat to Nicaragua.

The Rovers Academy player had already featured for Lee Bowyer’s (yes, that Lee Bowyer) Emerald Boys in two games against Antigua back in March but those fixtures weren’t recognised internationals.

Cirino played a part in Montserrat’s best moment, supplying the cross for Brandon Barzey to level the score. Unfortunately, that joy was short-lived with the team going on to lose 4-1.

The 21-year-old is leaving Rovers this summer when his contract expires at the end of June.

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