ROVERS winger Damien Duff might have had a week to forget after succumbing to a fresh injury blow in Dublin on Wednesday night.
But, as the 23-year-old came to terms with his latest set-back, he still took time out to leap to the defence of Mick McCarthy who is coming under increasing pressure following the Republic's disastrous start to their European Championship qualifying campaign.
Last month's 4-2 loss in Russia was followed by a 2-1 home defeat against Switzerland at Lansdowne Road. However, Duff has hit back at the critics who have called for the former Millwall boss to be sacked by insisting he's still the best man for the job.
"This criticism of the manager is terrible," blasted Duff.
"He has done brilliantly for the squad in the last few years, he got us to the World Cup finals and we did well there.
"So for Mick to be getting stick two games into the qualifying campaign is dreadful.
"We'll all stand by him and do our best for him. We've given ourselves a mountain to climb but the lads in this squad are more than capable of doing it.
"We showed what we are capable of in the summer and we have a lot to live up to, but we haven't lived up to it so far in these first two games.
"To have no points at this stage is devastating, but we can definitely still qualify because there is great spirit in the camp."
In the meantime, Duff will focus all his energy on getting fit in time for Rovers' UEFA Cup clash with Celtic at Parkhead at the end of the month.
He was due to have a scan today to assess the full extent of his hamstring injury and depending on the severity he could be ruled out for anything between one and six weeks.
Meanwhile, tickets for the second leg of the Celtic clash, at Ewood on November 14, go on limited sale as from next Thursday.
Tickets will go on sale to season ticket holders only on October 24 and the 16,000 or so regulars have until close of business on October 30 to reserve their seat.
Non-season ticket holders with a history of buying tickets at Ewood over the last two seasons will be able to purchase tickets for the clash from October 31-- the day of the first leg at Parkhead.
Season ticket holders need to quote their customer reference number when ordering tickets.
Tickets for the game are at category A prices.
Rovers have confirmed the second leg will also be screened live on the BBC after they struck a six-figure deal with the TV Corporation earlier this week.
As yet a kick-off time has not been finalised but the preferred option is 8.05pm.
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