ROVERS legend Kenny Dalglish will make an emotional return to the Ewood dug-out tomorrow in an honour of the club's greatest goalscorer.
Dalglish will come out of retirement to manage Rovers' championship-winning side of 1995 for one more time in Simon Garner's Testimonial game.
And the Scot is relishing the chance to renew acquaintances with some old friends seven years after he severed his ties with the club.
Ironically, it was Dalglish who actually brought the curtain down on Garner's Rovers career when he sanctioned his move to West Brom in the summer of 1992, just weeks after the club had secured promotion to the Premiership.
But, although Garner got few opportunities to shine during the early days of Dalglish's reign, the former Rovers boss is still well aware of the striker's place in the club's history.
"When I arrived at Blackburn, Simon was coming towards the end of his career and he knew he wasn't going to see much first team action with the changes that were happening at the club, but he responded well and played an important lesser role as the season went on," recalls Dalglish.
"When it came to the play-off final at Wembley in 1992, the club was allowed three non-playing team members to sit on the bench with the staff and substitutes.
"The only place for Simon to be that day was with the team. He had given so much to the club and this was one of the most important days in its recent history.
"Like Tony Parkes, who I asked to lead out the team, Simon was part of the fabric of the club and had helped create the platform for us to build on. His role had been a crucial one."
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