Blackburn Rovers’ manager Steve Kean saw his playing career ended at the age of 26 by injury – but that blow spurred him on to carve out a career for himself on the training ground and in the dugout, a path that led to his job at Ewood Park.

A MISTIMED tackle one summer afternoon in the early 1990s turned Steve Kean’s life upside down.

It was to prove a moment that changed his life forever.

He was just 26 when, playing for Reading in a pre-season friendly against QPR, a tackle left him writhing in agony with a badly broken ankle.

His senior career was over.

Football was all the Scot knew but, after a valiant attempt to prove doctors wrong and spells in non-league with Bath City and Newport, he was forced to admit defeat and hang up his boots for good.

He was at a crossroads. He could either become a bitter ex-professional with tales of ‘what might have been’ or he could make the best of a bad break.

He chose the latter.

Now, less than 20 years later, Kean has broken on to the biggest stage as Blackburn Rovers’ manager in the Premier League.

Some would say he can’t believe his luck, those who know him would put his rapid rise down to his sense of unfinished business.

“I did my tibia and my fibula at Reading and it was a complete mess. I was 26 then,” he said.

“It was not easy but I think that left a hunger and a desire to give something back.

"When I went to Celtic I was only 15, I went there straight from school.

“After the injury I immediately wanted to get into coaching because I had to. I had never done anything else.

“I was fortunate that Reading allowed me to coach the academy kids in the evening.

“I just moved up through the age groups, into the academy and then went to Fulham after that.

"You are disappointed at the time because you want to play. There is nothing like playing.

“But when you can’t play any longer you have to do something you think you can do and I always wanted to be involved in the game.

"That gave me a drive and a hunger because I didn’t play as long as I wanted to play. There was unfinished business.”

Born on the outskirts of Glasgow, Kean grew up supporting Celtic and at 15 was offered the chance to join his boyhood heroes straight from school.

The tricky winger jumped at the opportunity as he looked to make the grade but found the competition too stiff in his five years with the Hoops, and eventually left for pastures new having been unable to break into the first team.

“It was a time when we had a very good team,” said Kean.

“You were trying to break into the team and you had the likes of Paul Mcstay, Tommy Burns, Murdo Macleod.

"To try and break into the team as young guy was very difficult because we had a fantastic team.

“I had five years there though and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

"I never managed to establish myself in the first team so I had to go elsewhere and went to Portugal.

“As a supporter and a young boy obviously I wanted to play for the team I supported as a boy but when it doesn’t work out you go and get a different experience.

“David Hay and Billy McNeill were my two managers at Celtic, I had some great coaches as well like Jimmy Johnstone and Bobby Lennox.

"They were two European Cup winners and the reserve team coaches.

“You think back and learn from that. When I was at Celtic it was a very attacking philosophy.

"We always attacked through the full backs, there were lots of over laps, the wideman would come in.

“You think back to the training and how that was embedded into the club and maybe it was a little bit ahead of its time.”

From Celtic, Kean spent a brief spell at Alloa before moving to Portuguese outfit Academica Coimbra and admitted it ultimately proved easy to quit his heroes.

Upon returning to England, he signed for Reading before enjoying spells with Bath and Newbury post his ankle injury.

Kean said: “You get to a point where you see other players coming to the club and you realise it is passing you by. I knew I had to get away from Celtic and it was actually quite easy, probably a weight off the shoulders once the decision was made.

“I wanted to play. You would ideally like to play for a club that size but when you know you aren’t going to play you move on and play elsewhere.

“It wasn’t a tough decision in the end and I went away and enjoyed my time In Portugal.

"I then moved on to Reading when Mark McGhee was manager.

"You take all your different experiences and the different managers you played under and learn from that.

“It was not usual for players to go abroad when I did. I did it a very long time ago. I went 23 years ago.

"It was great because it was a different type of football. It was a lot slower, which suited me.

“It was a lot more technical and you had double sessions in the afternoon because the weather permitted that.

"I learned a lot about the technical side of the game because they practice the base techniques a lot more.”

* IN TODAY'S LANCASHIRE TELEGRAPH NEWSPAPER: How Steve Kean turned down Chelsea.