Selfish all-action ace gets his reward

IT IS a mark of the rapid progress made by Sammie Szmodics this season that the Blackburn Rovers attacking midfielder has already matched his output for the entire 2022-23 campaign

- Chris Dunlavy

Last weekend’s equalising goal against Ipswich – though ultimately futile – was his fifth in eight matches and placed him joint-top of the Championship scoring charts.

An additional assist meant Szmodics, who turned 28 last Sunday, was one of just four players, alongside Southampton’s Adam Armstrong and the Plymouth pair of Morgan Whittaker and Ryan Hardie, responsible for six or more direct goal contributions ahead of the weekend’s fixtures.

Ask any Rovers fan for their assessment of Szmodics today and they will tell you that he is both catalyst and predator, his bustling all-action style reminiscent of Ewood alumni Craig Bellamy, albeit without the Welshman’s blistering pace.

It is all a far cry from the early days of last season, when Szmodics struggled to justify the £1.8m fee Blackburn had paid Peterborough for his services, and was painted by many on the terraces as an unnecessary and unworthy replacement for cult hero Bradley Dack.

That scepticism stemmed partly from a failed move to Bristol City in 2019. A product of Colchester’s youth system, Szmodics scored 38 goals in 162 games for the U’s, all but a handful coming in League Two.