Todd: I'm not a thug
Blackburn manager Mark Hughes has warned Arsenal his team are now a far different proposition from the ‘bullies’ they faced in an FA Cup semi-final last season.
Hughes’ side were heavily criticised in the wake of their 3-0 defeat to the Gunners at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium due to the often-brutal approach they adopted throughout the game.
Rovers were lucky to finish the tie with their full requisite of players, notably when Andy Todd appeared to deliberately elbow Robin van Persie as the Arsenal striker wheeled away to celebrate his second, and his side’s third goal.
Captain and centre-back Todd pleaded his innocence after the match, and has again defended himself this week, insisting he might not be “an angel”, but neither is he “a thug”.
“I’m not a dirty player,” said Todd. “I’ve never deliberately injured anyone and I’ve never gone over the top with anyone. I’m hard but fair.
“I genuinely believe I have matured as a player, especially after Mark Hughes gave me the captaincy at Blackburn.
“I’m not a thug. A thug is someone who beats up an old lady, not someone who reacts. But I’ll never give anyone an easy game. I want to win.”
That would appear to be the general philosophy within the team this season as results have shown, and with the club pushing to get into the top half of the table and into a UEFA Cup spot by the end of the campaign.
Hughes certainly feels Arsenal will notice the difference at Highbury tomorrow, as other teams have done over the past few months.
“We’ve always said the only way we will turn around people’s opinion of us is by playing well on the pitch, and I think we have done that this year,” said Hughes.
“If you ask the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Charlton what type of team we are, they will tell you we like to get the ball down and play and create chances, which we did against all those sides.
“We have more options to our play this season and as a result we have won games and confidence levels have risen.
“We’re a different side under different circumstances. Last year we were fighting for our lives, but this year we are in much better shape as a team.
“We’ve had more time together as a group, and we are an accomplished side at this moment in time.”
Hughes also feels Todd has grown as a player throughout the year he has been at the helm at Ewood Park.
“Andy has been an exceptional player for us since I came through the door, and that’s credit to him,” added Hughes.
“He has been able to turn his career around because it looked at one point that he didn’t have a future here.
“But because of the level of play he has shown he has been able to get his career back on track, and I’m pleased about that.”
Striker Paul Dickov concedes “a siege mentality” had to be adopted following Hughes’ appointment, notably because the team were in deep relegation trouble.
“It had to be like that because there were certain things that needed sorting out,” said the 33-year-old who started his career with Arsenal.
“Last season, when the manager came in, we were struggling at the wrong end of the table and it was important we stopped leaking goals and started grinding out results.
“We did that, and by the end of the season we were playing well, but we felt we had to kick on.
“This season we are playing with a lot more freedom, with Craig Bellamy having made a massive difference to us. He gives us so many options.
“We are playing with a lot of confidence now, whereas this time last year we weren’t playing with that.
“Now we feel with the squad we have we should up in the top half of the table rather than near the bottom.”
Hughes has Lucas Neill and Brett Emerton available again after they missed last week’s goalless draw at Manchester City following their World Cup exertions with Australia.
However, Tugay is struggling with a calf strain while fellow midfielder David Bentley, on a season-long loan from Arsenal, cannot play against his parent club.
