Todd proud to be skipper

Andy Todd is looking forward to leading out Blackburn against Arsenal in the FA Cup.

The no-nonsense defender is set to captain Blackburn in Saturday's FA Cup semi-final against The Gunners at The Millennium Stadium.

Todd's renaissance as a Blackburn player comes 12 months after a bust-up with then-boss Graeme Souness, which seemed to signal the end of his time at Ewood Park.

But he has slowly turned his Blackburn career around to the point where he is now captain of Mark Hughes' side.

The centre half admits it will be a proud moment in his career after acknowledging he has come a long way during the past year.

"I'm very proud to be skipper of this team and Saturday will be a proud day for me," said Todd.

"It's been a big turnaround for me at Blackburn and to lead the team out at Cardiff will be a very memorable occasion.

"To reach the semi-final of the FA Cup doesn't come along too often in your career so we are determined to have a good day out at Cardiff."

Rovers manager Hughes also had words of praise for Todd for the manner in which he had resurrected his Ewood Park career.

Hughes commented: "During his career he has had labels stuck on him, some justified, some not.

"Before I arrived Andy had been told he had no future at Blackburn and he viewed my arrival as the chance to start over again.

"He has always been a good player and maybe people are changing their view of him."