Jake Garrett on his Blackburn Rovers sliding doors moment
In another world, Jake Garrett wouldn’t be sitting in front of the media speaking ahead of Blackburn Rovers’ Carabao Cup tie against Cardiff City.
The Rovers midfielder is certain to start alongside Sondre Tronstad, having fought his way up the pecking order to stay at Ewood Park. Initially, the plan was for him to go on loan.
Garrett had plenty of interest too. League One and League Two clubs were sniffing around and a deal looked closer at one stage. But that was never driven by Jon Dahl Tomasson and he showed how important Garrett was by picking him ahead of John Buckley in the matchday squad
The 20-year-old was open to a loan. He wants a future at Blackburn Rovers but regular football is important for this stage of his development. He’s desperate for it too.
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“Yeah, the first thing was for me to go on loan,” Garrett said. “I want to play football, week in, week out, that’s what every young lad wants.
If it wasn’t here, it would be somewhere else to gain that experience and play men’s football. We know football, things can change so quickly.
“I didn’t go out and I want to stay and fight for my place. I want to be ready to play here, I am contracted to the club and I want to play for Blackburn Rovers. I have always wanted that, I have been here since I have been nine.
“When the gaffer said he wanted me to stay, that’s what I always wanted. If I did go on loan, it was to go and develop to be better for this club, it wasn’t to go play football. I want to be better for this team, if that’s another season here then that’s the right decision to be around.
“There were options but I have been working hard in training to make sure the gaffer wanted me to stay. I left it to the clubs and my agents, if he wanted me to go on loan I would’ve but he wanted me to stay.”
Rovers have used the Carabao Cup as a breeding ground for their young academy talents. There will be another 10 or 11 changes for the visit of Cardif
Though some may view it as sending the reserves out, for someone like Garrett, it’s a rare chance for 90 minutes against Championship opposition. He’s scored in the previous two rounds but with the asterisk next to the games against League Two opposition. Cardiff is a chance to show he’s ready to play regularly against second-tier-level sides.
“We spoke a lot in pre-season and he said if I kept working hard in training, he (Tomasson) didn’t want me to leave,” he said. “I don’t know how close I am because there is a lot of competition.
“There is a game tomorrow and I have to take my chance and show him that I can do it against a Championship side, against these teams, for 90 minutes.
“It is hard to come for 10, 15 minutes and prove it. If you get consistency under your belt, you will get better. I am gaining confidence by playing against Championship opposition, some consistency will help me.
“It is up to me to take my chance tomorrow and we’ll see what the future is.”
Tackling has been a huge part of Garrett’s game throughout his career. Coming through the academy, he was known for a full-blooded tackle.
Last season, we’d play a light-hearted game of ‘Garrett bingo’, guessing the minute he would fly into a crunching tackle. That’s something you could coach out of a player but Garrett insists he will never change, though he is learning about the right time to make those committed lunges.
“I’ll never change, if the ball is between me and the player, I won’t back out of it,” he insisted. “That’s who I am, that’s how I was brought up.
“I have gained experience in midfield, do I need to nail someone in the middle of the pitch? I need to win the ball and keep it.
“If the ball is between me and a player then I will not back out but I have to win the ball. There are times when I do consider if I can stay on my feet but I will go and win the ball. Players growing up I would watch, that was some of their main strengths.
“I won’t change or take it out of my game but I have to be clever with it.”
