Steve Kean says David Dunn is 'more than just a player' for Blackburn and expects him to stay at the club as a coach when he hangs up his boots.
Midfielder set to take on coaching role when he hangs up boots
Steve Kean has described David Dunn as 'more than just a player' for Blackburn and expects him to stay at the club as a coach when he hangs up his boots.
Dunn, 32, signed a new contract in January to keep him at Ewood Park until the summer of 2013, but Kean is looking beyond even that point.
The midfielder remains a key man for Rovers, having come off the substitutes' bench to score the equaliser in a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa on Saturday, and Kean hopes to have him at his disposal for several more years.
When Dunn does eventually decide to retire as a player, Kean says he will continue to contribute in a backroom coaching role.
And the manager has paid tribute to the leadership qualities of somebody who has already spent ten years with Blackburn across two spells.
Kean said: "David Dunn is not only a player now. He's signed a new contract so he's a player-stroke-staff member. We're going to be helping him get through his coaching education.
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"We feel that when he stops playing - which we hope will be many years away - he will still be a coach at the club for whatever age group or whatever team, working with the first team, reserves or academy.
"He's the type of man we'd like to keep at the club. I think he's showed what the goal meant to him. He's a Blackburn supporter and that will tell you what runs through his veins.
"He would have started (against Villa) but he had a niggly little hip problem and he's only trained two sessions. But what he shows you, when he comes on, is that it's not just about his quick feet or when he lifts his head up - it's his actual thinking about the game.
"And now looking at the game in a coaching capacity can really help him. He can almost be a player-coach on the pitch so I think that's going to be really important for us.
"We are probably the youngest team in the league. If not the youngest, one of the youngest. We need not just Paul Robinson and Dunny but all the senior lads to stand up and give information."
