Grayson backs Parkes

The club are poised to invite the popular caretaker to extend his stay in the Ewood hot-seat after masterminding a seven-game unbeaten run.

And Grayson insists that's the least Parkes deserves after putting the buzz back into the club on and off the park.

The former Aston Villa defender has been one of the main beneficiaries since Parkes took over at the beginning of last month.

Earlier in the season Grayson had found himself in and out of the side as Brian Kidd flittered between him and Jeff Kenna at right back.

But Parkes quickly installed him as number one and Grayson believes that kind of show of faith has helped boost confidence throughout the side.

"The main thing which seems to have changed since Tony took charge is the confidence among the players," said Grayson.

"You could see against Bolton the other night the lads thoroughly enjoyed it from the first minute until the last.

"Tony is maybe swaying towards taking the job, I don't really know - that's down to him.

"But if he did decide to take it then I'm sure he'd have the full backing of the players.

"We've been fully behind him from the start and we've really enjoyed what we've been doing."

Parkes hinted yesterday that he might be ready to take on the job, at least until the end of the season.

He said: "As the games go on and the points keep being collected it becomes more difficult for me to say no as adamantly as I have done previously. "I can't rule out taking the job until the end of the season.

"We might be looking down another road. Things are changing a little bit, and I'm not as adamant as I was three or four games ago."

And Grayson would support that move. He said: "I said all along that this team was inevitably going to go on a run of victories, whoever was in charge, and this latest run has just proved that.

"But when a new manager like Tony comes in, it gives everyone that bit of a lift.

"A couple of good results at the start of the run gave us that bit of confidence and we've managed to maintain that.

"And now we've got this belief when we go into games that we are not going to get beat."

Grayson was set to come face-to-face with his old mentor Brian Little during Rovers' FA Cup tie with West Brom at The Hawthorns today.

The Baggies boss has signed Grayson twice during his managerial career for Leicester and then Villa.

But although the pair still keep in touch, there will be no love lost this afternoon as Rovers bid to trigger a cup run.

"He had a great influence on my career and I still speak to him every now and again because he's my ex-manager and he's advised me on a few things," said Grayson. "But that goes out of the window today.

"It's the FA Cup, it will be a great atmosphere and it would be nice to go on a good run for both the fans and the players.

"We know it's going to be a difficult game because they've got a few good players.

"But the team they played against earlier in the season compared to the one they'll face in the Cup is a completely different one.

"We've got belief now."

Meanwhile, Jimmy Corbett's move to Gillingham has fallen through.

The Gills had hoped to take the 19-year-old reserve team winger on loan just 18 months after selling him to Rovers for £500,000.

But the move has collapsed after the two clubs failed to reach an agreement over the terms of the deal.

"They threw up a few problems so we knocked it on the head. If they want him on loan then it's got to be right," said Parkes.

On the injury front, Keith Gillsepie is back in training after a long stint on the sidelines with a groin problem.

And that's a timely boost for Parkes even though he will not be back before the festive programme.

"He obviously needs a couple of games yet and when it gets around Christmas there doesn't tend to be too many reserve fixtures," said Parkes.

Parkes is also hoping to have Craig Short back in five or six weeks following his double hernia operation last week.

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