Blackburn Rovers handed huge injury boost as ‘unplayable’ former Portsmouth target returns to face Blues

Former Portsmouth transfer target Amario Cozier-Duberry is expected to be fit and available for Blackburn Rovers in this weekend’s home clash against the Blues.

The England Under-19 youngster, who was signed on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer, has missed more than a month of football with an ankle injury that he sustained in training, but has now vowed to make up for lost time and show everyone exactly what he is capable of. Cozier-Duberry has so far been limited to just five cameo appearances off the bench for the Riversiders this season, but has given fans a glimpse of his potential in his brief cameos.

So much so that John Eustace openly admitted he had planned to include the youngster in his starting line-up had it not been for his injury. Cozier-Dubbery admits the injury came at a frustrating time but is confident now is his time to shine.

“It was disappointing to get the injury when I did, but I’m slowly coming back and I’m nearly there now,” he told RoversTV. “I’m thankful to the staff for helping me get back as soon as possible and I want to be available now. Injuries come, they happen and it’s football, I’ve just had to kick on with my rehabilitation. It’s not something you can spend too long dwelling over.

“I’ve got more to come but I’d like to think that I’ve made a good first impression and I want to kick on from that now and show what I can do. The next step is to be starting games in the Championship and to do as much as I can," he added, looking further ahead. There are a lot of games in the Championship and I’m definitely looking forward to it and hopefully getting a good run of games.The Championship’s exciting and I’m enjoying it, even watching the games.”

This season marks Cozier-Duberry’s breakaway into senior football, but the hype surrounding the youngster stretches back to his time at Arsenal where he had been compared to Bukayo Saka by The Athletic. The 19-year-old joined Arsenal in 2019 and spent five years in North London, making a total of four friendly appearances whilst being an unused substitute in eight competitive matches. He registered 18 goals and 10 assists in 48 appearances for the team’s Under-21 squad and was even described as ‘unplayable’ by former youth team coach Jack Wilshere. Wilshere said: "In some moments, he's (Cozier-Duberry) unplayable. You give him the ball, and he can make things happen.”

Cozier-Duberry turned down a contract extension at the Emirates over the summer and instead favoured a move to Premier League side Brighton where he signed a four-year deal. Prior to his move to Ewood Park, The News understood Portsmouth were one of the frontrunners to land the winger on loan. John Mousinho had been spotted watch Cozier-Duberry in action back in August when the Brighton Under-21 side took on Crawley Town in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy, but ultimately Pompey opted to recruit youngster Harvey Blair from Liverpool instead over the summer.