Leaving Rangers right for my career - Cantwell

Blackburn Rovers midfielder Todd Cantwell has said his departure from the "goldfish bowl" at Rangers was "the right thing for me and my career".

The 26-year-old moved to Ewood Park from the Scottish club on transfer deadline day last Friday.

He had not featured for Philippe Clement's side this season after requesting to leave in the summer.

"I think there's a misconception with how my time was at Rangers - it's been twisted," he told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"I wasn't a bad performer and I certainly didn't leave because I was being kicked out of the door.

"It felt like the right time to move on but it wasn't anything personal. They stated that it was important for me to stay and I loved the club so much, so it was a very difficult decision to make.

"Walking out at Ibrox is something I'll never forget, but it was the right thing for me and my career."

Cantwell joined Rangers from Norwich City in January 2023 and scored 14 goals in 64 appearances.

The former England Under-21s international was linked with a number of big clubs early in his Canaries career and believes he has been "mistreated and misunderstood".

"As a player and a person you have to take a little bit of responsibility for things not going the way you would have planned," he said.

"I think I've been mistreated a little bit and misunderstood. It's disappointing when certain people, in the same building, have a different opinion and value of you. When you're growing up you don't realise there's a lot of politics in football.

"There's situations and periods of my career where I think I've been mismanaged and misadvised maybe as well.

"Ultimately you look back on decisions that were made about you moving clubs at certain points that you never had any say in. At 21 there was a lot of speculation and offers, but I didn't have the opportunity to say yes or no because the club didn't want to sell me."

Cantwell 'desperate to play' after long break

John Eustace's Blackburn side have made a good start to the Championship season with two wins and two draws from their first four matches.

Cantwell has not played competitively since the Scottish Cup final defeat by Celtic on 25 May, but having won promotion from the Championship twice with Norwich and once during a loan spell at Bournemouth, is eager to get into the action.

"I see Blackburn as a massive opportunity for me to get back to England and out of the goldfish bowl a little bit," he said.

"It's a very respectable league and I've had a lot of success in it. When I spoke to the manager and now I've been here a few days you can see we are serious contenders this season."

He added: "I think the management here will be important with how I integrate back into consistent games.

"We know what the Championship is like and we need to be sensible with not trying to do too much too early, but I'm desperate to play."