Blackburn manager Steve Kean believes the goal threat of veteran striker Ayegbeni Yakubu can help steer his side to Barclays Premier League safety.
Despite being forced to play a lone attacking role for a team that has been battling against relegation for most of the season, the Nigerian has still managed to notch an impressive 13 goals this season, 12 of them in the league. Yakubu added another two during Blackburn's stunning win at Manchester United on Saturday.
"It is fairly obvious. When you see the amount of goals he has got now, we are desperate to keep him fit," said Kean.
"We look after him. He is in as good a physical condition as he has been in his career and we manage him during the week.
"There are times when we need to give him an extra recovery day because of the amount of mileage he is doing.
"We don't ask him to run to the channels. We just ask him to play the width of the box. We know if we can give him good service, he can get himself some goals."
And history suggests that could give Blackburn a valuable edge in their battle for survival. For the clubs who end up sliding into the npower Championship are usually the ones who struggle to score.
"We don't have a problem scoring goals," said Kean.
"We always score. We have scored in every single away game this season.
"The problem we have is the amount of defenders we have injured. We have never had a settled back four and we have still to get a clean sheet."
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