Blackburn Rovers manager Valerien Ismael believes his side should be awarded the three points from Saturday’s abandoned game at Ewood Park and denies he agreed to bring the match to an early end.

Martin took the players off due to an unplayable pitch following persistent rain prior to kick-off and throughout the game with the scoreline 1-0 to Blackburn via a Todd Cantwell penalty and with the Blues down to 10 men following Jacob Greaves’s red card.

The officials might well have brought proceedings to a close even sooner with the ball having held up in patches on the pitch from the start but with passing having become impossible by the time the players were taken off and the game subsequently curtailed at the 80-minute mark.

An EFL statement after the match indicated that Blues boss Kieran McKenna and Ismael had accepted the referee ending the game early - “The decision was taken in agreement with both managers” - something Ismael now disputes.

“It was chaotic after the game and we had to accept the decision,” the Frenchman told RoversTV. “The referee abandoned the game and we go from there and wait for the decision.

“We have made our points on the situation and have prepared our case. We were the team pushing, we were on the front foot and we expect to get the reward, because we think that’s the fair thing to do.

“One thing from my side that has to be really clear is that I saw a report from the EFL at the end of the game. I never agreed to stop the game. I had no choice because the referee made his point clear that he had to abandon the game.

“He said the pitch was unplayable, he said sorry and explained that the EFL will make the decision. I never had to agree to anything because the decision was made. That’s a clear point to make from our position - we didn’t agree anything.”

The clubs continue to wait on the EFL board to give their verdict on what happens now having submitted their cases.

Ismael is in no doubt his team should be awarded the three points, while a restaging of the game, the usual approach when matches are abandoned, seems the most likely option, while playing the final 10 minutes has also been mooted as a possibility.

“It’s clear, when you’re 1-0 up, the opponents are down to 10 men and you have the momentum,” Ismael continued. “On one hand, they can score a goal, but what is right for Ipswich is also right for us, and we have the possibility of scoring a goal as well.

“We faced the situation against Norwich when we were down to 10 and were pushing. We had the feeling we could score, but we conceded a second goal at the end and lost the game.

“For us, we have the right to want the three points from the situation, as I think that’s the fairest thing to do when the opponent is down to 10.

“At 11 v 11, it’s a different situation, but this situation was clear. We had a clear advantage and the statistical data shows that we were on the front foot since the red card.

“There are no rules and it’s a grey area. It’s put the integrity of football in danger because everyone can speculate on anything in every game to try to stop any game.

“It’s difficult to know what will be the outcome, but this is a case that should be taken seriously, as this is one that will be a precedent case. I hope we can get a decision in our favour.”

Ismael was pleased with his team’s display against the Blues, although up to the red card Town had largely been in control and had a penalty shout of their own shortly before the game’s early conclusion.

“It was a great performance from the players again and we’re starting to get that consistency in the performances and also the results,” he said. “It gives the players that confidence and that’s what we want to keep in our minds.

“The main message now is to stay focused for the next game. Everything is out of our control and we have defended our interests for us and our fans.”

Saturday’s abandonment was only the eighth in Town’s professional history and first since icy conditions put paid to the home game against Middlesbrough in February 2012.

Photo: IMAGO/News Images via Reuters Connect

BlueRuin69 added 20:35 - Sep 23 The pitch was unplayable, stop lying
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Daniel72 added 20:36 - Sep 23 He's trying it on...
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Saxonblue74 added 20:37 - Sep 23 He has a responsibility to his players and their safety. If he didn’t agree to the stoppage then he put points ahead of that. Wrong.
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GoingUp added 20:40 - Sep 23 pranker subistitute v lol
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TheBoyBlue added 20:43 - Sep 23 1. How could he not see the pitch was unplayable and that there was no way the match could go on like that and indeed shouldn't have got as far as it did? 2. How is letting the result of a match that had 10-15 minutes left stand fairer than replaying the full 90 minutes on a playable pitch? There is also nothing unfair about replaying a match you failed to provide a playable pitch for.

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BurleysGloryDays added 20:44 - Sep 23 Sure pal. Good luck with that. Look forward to taking 6 points from you this season when you can provide a pitch to play on.
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bluesissy added 20:46 - Sep 23 I bet if they were losing he would be singing a different tune...
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Broadbent23 added 20:48 - Sep 23 The EFL is a multi million pound business, it is ludicrous that a decision has not been made. 24 hours is ample time. All it has done is let the media create stupid answers to the problem. Just replay the match . Our Charlton match in League one proved loads of goals are possible in 10 minutes.
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Karlosfandangal added 20:53 - Sep 23 Blame your grounds staff for not getting the pitch in a playable condition or the club not investing in a proper drainage system
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patrickswell added 20:54 - Sep 23 What in God’s name is this man wittering on about?
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SuperKieranMcKenna added 20:55 - Sep 23 Why must you turn this into a house of lies?…
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RIPbobby added 20:57 - Sep 23 I did think it was odd that he 'agreed' to abandon the game. This is all quite funny now. The longer it goes on the less likely it's a replay. This could get a bit nasty.
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Stephbgb added 20:57 - Sep 23 LOL so what Blackburn are arguing for is that a club should be able to provide a venue that's unfit to play on, suits their style of play, get into the lead and call the game off and just call it done. That would be a horrendous precedent for the EFL to set, and, even conceding it IS unfair on Blackburn based on the game played to date, who probably did deserve the win.

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Ftnfwest added 20:57 - Sep 23 He’s saying that they had the upper hand but either side could have scored which defeats his own argument. Ultimately they staged the game but couldn’t fulfil it. Might not be their fault but certainly not ours.
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emergencylime added 20:58 - Sep 23 I thought he was a decent coach but he's lost some respect with this statement... The ball not rolling is indicative of a pitch that is unplayable and potentially damgerous for both sets of players. Either outcome is likely to be appealed and the FA get involved, i suspect
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Facefacts added 20:58 - Sep 23 Bburn just adding more and more pressure. We think we are above this sort of comment that this guy has made, saying it's out of our control, but the EFL, Sky, The Premier League (still spitting us out for daring to get promoted) are ganging up on us as we are such an easy target. We should be making the same level of media commitment to this as Bburn are, commenting every day, as those who are cobbling together and answer are reading every word. Not forgetting the ref who played on for 35 minutes after the pitch was unplayable to drag it over 75 minutes and bring in the EFL precedent that games over 75 can be deemed complete. I think, if, as I suspect, they award the 3 points to Bburn, we will just accept it and move on.

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Bazza8564 added 21:13 - Sep 23 Refs decision, not yours
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poet added 21:38 - Sep 23 He says he didn’t agree to stop the match, that may be true, but if he didn’t think the game should be stopped, then he’s living in cloud cuckoo land. That pitch was unplayable long before the referee made the right decision to take the players off, in fact, he should have come to that conclusion much earlier. He claims his side were on the front foot, many would disagree with that, but even if that were correct, it makes no difference. The fact is, unless he has a Crystal ball, then he, nor anyone else could predict what would have happened if the match had taken its full course, which, I might add, would have included injury time. Several scenarios could have evolved. For that matter alone, the only right decision would be to play the game again. If he’s frightened of doing that, it says a lot for his confidence in his players, despite his over inflated opinion of them in this article.

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MoscowBlueMule added 21:40 - Sep 23 Well I’d go even further than just replaying the match, I’d ask for it it be replayed at a neutral ground! Blackburn you had your chance to stage it and you failed.
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Guthrum added 21:41 - Sep 23 I wouldn't agree that Blackburn were the team on the front foot in the period just before the ball stopped rolling through the puddles. We had several good attacks in that time.
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Daniel72 added 21:42 - Sep 23 To be fair to him he represented his team and spoke of greater clarity in the French league... and it was the ref's decision.. but hey we deserve to play them on a decent surface and hopefully win.
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Paramedic added 21:51 - Sep 23 Had Town been 1-0 up at that point no doubt he’d have been pushing the officials to stop the game. Football matches last for 90 minutes not 80. The pitch was making the game farcical and dangerous. Any manager with any sense would agree with that.
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ArnieM added 22:03 - Sep 23 ......and some this farce rumbles on. Ffs EFL, GROW A PAIR, and make a bloody decision.
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darkhorse28 added 22:08 - Sep 23 Jeez. Reading the above.., it’s like some people cant’t process more than one basic idea at once. He never said it was playable. He said he didn’t AGREE to call the game off, because the decision was already made!!! That’s NOT the same as saying it’s playable. Both things can be true. No wonder Ashton treats some people like village idiots.
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darkhorse28 added 22:15 - Sep 23 TheBoyBlue - we’re a goal up, at home, against ten, match abandoned. Discounting the last 14 months (sadly) what chance you giving the opposition? There is t a case where we were likely to get a result, statistically we were likely to lose by a greater margin. So his points, deep in the game, with an extra man, at home, and a goal up I make 100% correct. You’re deluded, beyond deluded if you think we were getting anything (in all probability). What is it, 1 penalty away from home all season? WITH ELEVEN .., we couldn’t even break down a fourth division reserve side .., I’m guessing how terrible we’ve been this season, with 11 players will form part of their submission!! Probably should play the remaining minutes tbf, most likely the full replay, which would be unfair at best. We wouldn’t like it, so show at least an ounce of integrity. We’d be going ballistic the other way around.., and Phil and the nodding dogs would be singing a VERY different tune - the hypocrisy makes us look tiny.

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