DAVID Dunn has roared ‘let’s pump ‘em 10-0’ – but admits he will then be rooting for bitter rivals Burnley to pull off a fairytale Premier League great escape.
Blackburn Rovers’ talismanic midfielder has declared himself fit for tomorrow’s trip to Turf Moor after insisting there was no way he would be kept out of the latest chapter of East Lancashire derby history.
Boyhood Rovers fan Dunn, who is hoping to be given the green light by boss Sam Allardyce today, is desperate to extend the Clarets’ 31-years of derby pain and hand his supporters the bragging rights once again.
A Rovers victory tomorrow would complete a derby double, after Dunn inspired them to a 3-2 victory at Ewood in October, and leave Burnley on the brink of losing their Premier League status – but the midfielder insisted he hopes ‘the enemy’ stay up.
He said: “I am certainly looking forward to the game on Sunday.
"Hopefully we can go there and, I know it is fairytale, but I hope we pump them 10-0 and I genuinely hope next season we will be looking out for these fixtures again.
“I think the derby game is good. It is good for the players and the staff but more important it is good for the supporters.
"It is great for banter at work - I just hope it is our fans who are going in laughing on Monday morning rather than crying.
“I genuinely do hope that we go there on Sunday, give them a little pumping and they go on a little run and get those points needed to stay in the league. I genuinely hope they do that.”
Dunn’s involvement in tomorrow’s derby was thrown into doubt after he limped out of Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Birmingham, having scored both goals to down his former club.
The 30-year-old though was in training yesterday and has told Allardyce he is available for selection, although Rovers’ boss admitted they would assess him today before making a final decision.
Dunn has revealed he might have to take a more cautious approach to his fitness in the future, after suffering another frustrating stop-start season, but insisted that was not the case for tomorrow’s Turf tussle.
Dunn said: “No way am I missing Sunday. Of course I want to play then, that is a no brainer. I want to play every game but there are times when I am not really ready when the games are so close.
“Sometimes you have to think can we do anything better to stop these little niggles? I am not getting any younger but I still feel I can play a big part in the next couple of seasons.
“Because I have missed a few games I never not want to train and never want to not play games, even when I am not 100 per cent. Maybe it is time I started listening to my head a little bit more and instead of missing five games, I could maybe miss one to be involved in the remaining games.
“I don’t want to miss Sunday though.”
Dunn is the only member of either squad to have played in the last league derby at Turf Moor, a 2-0 Rovers win in December 2000, and knows, as a Rovers fan, he will be a particular target at a hostile Burnley.
“I am not fussed. I have had stick for many years now, so it is water off a duck’s back,” he said. “I am not too worried about them giving me the stick. Probably half of my friends are Burnley fans so I am used to the amount of stick that one can get.
“It was a good day for all Blackburn fans last time we won there. I played there for Birmingham in a pre-season friendly where I managed to score and hopefully I can get a goal now as well.
“Even though it is a derby and the fans around will be looking forward to it, we see it as another fixture and another three points we can hopefully pick up.
“Fingers crossed we can go there with the same determination we did in the last game. I think we are comfortable, we are safe, but there is no way we will be easing off - we want to get to 50 points. ”
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