Kean hails fighting spirit

Steve Kean praised the fighting spirit of his players after Blackburn boosted their survival prospects with victory over Norwich.

Rovers boss delighted with player focus after Norwich win

Blackburn manager Steve Kean praised the fighting spirit of his players after Rovers boosted their survival prospects with a 2-0 victory over Norwich. Kean revealed after the match that strike duo Yakubu and Junior Hoilett had played despite injuries, while Gael Givet and Bradley Orr both needed pain-killing injections at half-time. The victory, which was secured thanks to Mauro Formica's volley and Hoilett's superb long-range strike, saw Rovers end a five-match losing streak against a below-par Norwich side. Kean said: "Junior played with a tight hamstring and Yakubu also had a tough time getting fit. Givet needed an injection at half-time for a severe dead leg, and Bradley needed one, too. "It's always nice when you win, but this was about the performance because we had players who were on their last legs with lots of fatigue, and they didn't want to come off the pitch." Kean reserved particular praise for Givet, whom he dropped for last week's defeat by Swansea after declaring the Frenchman was "not in the right frame of mind" to play. Kean said: "Gael's performance was no surprise to me. Since he's been at the club he's been a total warrior. He took an injection at half-time and didn't want to come off. "He's been absolutely magnificent in training all week. If you train like this, there's no surprise when you turn up and play like this as well."