Souness admits Yorke clash

Exclusive by Phil McNulty
Chief football writer

Yorke has scored 12 goals in 55 Premiership games for Blackburn

Blackburn manager Graeme Souness has confirmed he was involved in a training ground bust-up with Dwight Yorke.

The incident was understood to have started after a heavy tackle on Souness by the striker in a practice match, prompting retaliation from his manager.

Souness told BBC Sport: "There was something, but these things happen on training grounds every week in football and you move on.

"You want your players to be competitive and we'll speak about it."

These things happen on training grounds every week in football Blackburn manager Graeme Souness

Souness described claims that Yorke's Blackburn career was over after the incident as "absolute nonsense."

"As far as I'm concerned it's done and dusted.

"I used to see worse virtually every week as a player. It happens all the time on training grounds. We live in a man's world.

"Passions run high at training grounds and that was an incident in which that happened.

"There was nothing more to it than that. Nothing happened before it and nothing will happen after it," he told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

"I want my players to be passionate in every game they play, whether that's in training or in the Premiership. That's all I ask from them. But to say we had a fight is absolute nonsense."

But it is clear Yorke is now facing a battle to extend his Blackburn career and is already being linked with a summer move to Fulham.

Souness was reportedly planning to sell the 32-year-old at the end of the season even before the bust-up.

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Blackburn have one of the Premiership's most promising strike pairings in Jon Stead and Paul Gallagher, putting pressure on the former Manchester United duo of Yorke and Andy Cole.

Since moving to Ewood Park from Manchester United, where he was part of the Treble-winning team in 1999, Yorke's career has gone into decline.

The Trinidad and Tobago striker has scored only 12 goals in 55 Premiership appearances and has also been linked with a move to Qatar.

Meanwhile, Blackburn full-back Lucas Neill has denied making disparaging remarks about the east Lancashire town.

He was quoted in Australian magazine TNT as saying: "The last one out at night has to turn off the lights."

However, he told the club's website: "The piece is outrageous. I have no problems with this area at all, quite the contrary.

"I have always been made very welcome here and I spend a lot of time in the region - I even go out with a Blackburn girl."