BARNSLEY chairman John Dennis today blasted stories linking Dave Bassett with the vacant Blackburn Rovers manager's job.

Reacting to reports suggesting that Bassett had been made Rovers top target Dennis said that there had been no contact between the two clubs.

"Stories like this are unsettling, entirely without foundation and extremely unwelcome," he said.

Bassett31, who has a three-year contract with the Yorkshire side, has just the sort of experience Blackburn are looking for.

He has has done an excellent job on a shoestring at Barnsley this season.

And in the past has taken both Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest.

Rovers have been very patient in their search for a replacement for Brian Kidd who was sacked more than two weeks ago.

Former Bolton boss Colin Todd, who we revealed was one of the first to put his hat in the ring, remains a very serious candidate.

The delay in making a move for him may suggest that top of the Rovers wanted list is a man currently in work but there is also a suggestion that Rovers had a set process that they wanted to go through before making their final choice.

Either way, Rovers have made a point of not being rushed into making an appointment.

They have faith in caretaker boss Tony Parkes and that has allowed the club to be very methodical in their hunt for a new manager. Meanwhile, Parkes believes the players have now got the shock of Kidd's departure out of their systems.

A large chunk of the Ewood playing staff were devastated when Kidd was sacked two weeks ago.

That left Parkes to step in as caretaker and some of Kidd's signings paid the price by losing their first team shirts as the Rovers stalwart wielded the axe.

But they have now come to terms with the situation and the whole squad have refocused their thoughts on steering the club towards a possible play-off place.

"I've had a couple of players who have come and seen me," said Parkes.

"They obviously thought they were playing well and I had different ideas about it so that's why they didn't really play.

"But they've got over their disappointment now.

"Obviously, Brian Kidd was a popular man and he brought a lot of players to the club. But they've got over that and they are fine now.

"Everybody who has trained over the last fortnight has worked hard.

"So there's no problem.

"It's a natural reaction to be disappointed - certainly when your manager goes and certainly when you are not in the team.

"But I wouldn't want them to react in any other way. If they weren't disappointed then there would be something wrong.

"Everything is all right now and I've got a good squad of players to pick from."

That's a view shared by defender Simon Grayson, one of Kidd's last signings, who is preparing to play under his third manager at Ewood in four months once a new man is appointed. But all the uncertainty surrounding a possible successor is not affecting the players at present.

"These things happen. It's not the first time it's happened and it probably won't be the last," said Grayson.

"The speculation surrounding the manager's situation is building up but it's up to the players to just get on with their jobs and wait to see what happens. As players we are probably the last to know anyway.

"But in the mean time we've just got try and get some points on the board for whoever comes in to try and get us up into the play off positions."

Meanwhile, Parkes has admitted his own future at the club could come under close scrutiny once a new man is appointed.

The popular coach has always survived new regimes in the past but he is not taking his role as part of the backroom staff for granted.

"There can't be any assurances can there? It's impossible because it depends who they bring in," said Parkes.

"If they bring somebody else in they will probably have to sort out their backroom staff.

"We've gone through this situation time and time again and as it's happened I have been secure in the past.

"But there are no guarantees.

"Certainly not at this time before a new manager comes in."

In the meantime, Parkes will continue to hold the fort starting with this afternoon's game against Fulham at Ewood and he was hoping goalkeeper Alan Kelly would be past fit.

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