Vince Grella insists he never wanted to leave Blackburn and is delighted to have been given a second chance.
Midfielder still hoping to make his mark at Ewood Park
Vince Grella insists he never wanted to leave Blackburn and is delighted to have been given a second chance.
The Australian midfielder came close to packing his bags over the summer when Rovers agreed a fee with Turkish giants Galatasaray.
However, that deal collapsed and Grella found himself sticking around at Ewood Park.
He has been able to force his way into Sam Allardyce's plans on a more regular basis of late and hopes he can nail down a place in the matchday squad.
Having seen his time in England disrupted by niggling knocks, Grella is determined to steer clear of the treatment table for the foreseeable and prove his worth to the Rovers supporters and his boss.
"Obviously after not showing what your true potential is, you always want to stay and prove people wrong," the 31-year-old told the
Lancashire Telegraph.
"There are a lot of people who have probably thought that it was a waste of time and money to bring me here, so I'm always trying to change that around.
"I still have another year's contract. I would like to see that out and then we'll see where we go from there.
Negotiations
"The Galatasaray stuff never really worried me too much. I knew my position at Blackburn and to be fair I've always been happy here.
"It was done more with other people than myself. I was at the World Cup so I was only getting relayed to me at what stage the negotiations were.
"I was more interested in doing well with my national team and I was hoping that if anything was going to be done to organise it after the World Cup."
Grella believes he has been unfortunate with injuries since joining Rovers from Torino in 2008 and is confident he is still held in high regard by Allardyce and his coaching staff.
He said: "It is frustrating and I can't emphasise enough the frustration that has been going through my head. But I've worked really hard and hopefully now I'll get a good run of games together.
"We've tried everything and we'll keep trying and keep working. I've never doubted my work ethic so hopefully a bit of luck will come my way.
"No one is indispensable. To have a good football team you need to have players that can be replaced.
"I consider myself an important part of the squad and it's always up to the manager then to pick his starting 11 who he thinks can win the game on Saturday."
