Jon Dahl Tomasson has admitted that he has ‘personal contact’ with John Buckley during his loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday.
Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph, the Blackburn Rovers manager offered his verdict on whether the midfielder would return to Ewood Park in January.
John Buckley made his senior debut for Blackburn Rovers in 2019 and had since become a fan favourite after making 130 appearances for his boyhood club.
Despite his success in the North West, Buckley had fallen out of favour in the early stages of the current campaign and had asked to be sent out on loan to gain regular football.
Tomasson didn’t want to see Buckley leave but financial restrictions forced his hand, and so the midfielder went onto sign for Sheffield Wednesday on a season-long loan.
The ‘useful’ 24-year-old has been a regular for the Owls since his arrival, however he hasn’t started a game since the 3-0 defeat to Plymouth, where he was taken off at half-time.
Talk of Buckley’s future has now escalated, with Joe Rankin-Costello’s long-term injury now leaving Blackburn with limited options in the middle of the park.
As a result, Tomasson was asked whether he was considering recalling Buckley in January.
“It’s very early days, the January market is not open yet,” Tomasson said.
“We have contact with John. I always have one of the staff, Damien Johnson, who takes control of that. We are analysing John’s games when he is starting and when he is coming from the bench.
“I have a personal contact with him in that way. It’s the same whenever you loan players out, the same with Jack (Vale) at Lincoln.
“You always need to have that connection with the player, to give them a good feeling and to see if he’s doing well, is he doing what he wants?
“For John, it is a difficult situation at Sheffield Wednesday. It’s a difficult situation for Sheffield Wednesday as a club.”
Will Sheffield Wednesday keep hold of John Buckley – and do they need to?
John Buckley is clearly a hugely talented player, however it doesn’t really seem to be panning out quite the way he wanted at Hillsborough.
The midfielder has been limited to only five starts – only one of which has come under Danny Rohl.
An early substitution against Plymouth doesn’t bode well for Buckley’s chances under the German and we could well see his appearances remain restricted.
With the likes of Barry Bannan, George Byers and Jeff Hendrick ahead of him in Rohl’s plans, Blackburn Rovers could well choose to bring him back.