STORM clouds are gathering around Ewood Park in preparation for Friday’s derby – a game that definitely won’t be for the faint-hearted.

Wanderers travel down the A666 looking to leave their local rivals stranded in the bottom three during the international break. And if reports are to be believed, defeat could signal the end of Gary Bowyer’s time in charge at Rovers.

One man with a unique perspective is Wanderers development squad coach Iain Brunskill, someone who counts Bowyer among his good friends in the game.

Brunskill worked at Rovers for four-and-a-half years, joining the club with Paul Ince in 2008 before serving on the coaching staff with Sam Allardyce and then stepping up as assistant to Steve Kean.

And it was in those pressurised latter years that Brunskill can assure his former colleague that however tough things feel right now, they have certainly been worse.

Weekend reports claimed Bowyer had been sacked following defeat to Brighton but were strenuously denied by Rovers in a statement the same day.

“There’s all sorts of stuff flying around, it’s the world we live in,” shrugged Brunskill, who has been in charge of the development squad at the Macron since last November.

“Gary is a good friend and a good football man. I think he’s done a brilliant job. He’s steadied everything under difficult circumstances and managing the expectation is hard too.

“Blackburn have been Premier League champions but times have changed. There have been a lot of restrictions for him to deal with too.

“Things have been tough but I lived through the Steve Kean years. I know how difficult it can be at times.”

Brunskill was Kean’s right hand man through some of the stormiest times in Rovers’ recent history as fans clashed regularly with the India-based Venky family and the managerial staff.

“It was a difficult time for everybody,” he recalled. “I can understand the way the supporters felt because there was a lack of communication. But as someone who was working at ground level, I can promise that everyone was trying to do a job to the best of their abilities.

“One thing sticks in my mind that I can’t get past. We were having a hard time in the season we eventually got relegated and we scored a goal against Swansea, the scorer ran to the manager and got booed – now I’ve never know anything like that in my life.

“I could understand elements of why the supporters were how they were but players, staff, they were all trying to do a job.

“It could have gone a different way. It looks like the owners have got a bit less reactive and that’s why Gary has been able to settle down.

“It’s a bit steadier.”

One night sticks in the memory for Blackburn and Wanderers fans as Kean felt the full fury of Ewood Park in a 2-1 defeat in December 2011.

Protests spilled around the ground and extended well after the final whistle, with Brunskill admitting it had become difficult for management and players alike.

“Blackburn is a terrific club and there are a lot of good people there,” he said.

“But there was a minority making it very difficult – we’d hear about protests and there would be 10 people there. We were just pulling together and trying to do the best we possibly could.

“For whatever reason, whatever they thought, it was difficult because we had a lot of young players in the squad at the time and home games were hard for them.

“It didn’t help, and I can understand it to a certain degree, but I can’t get past booing your team when they score. I don’t get it.”

Brunskill helped Bowyer bring through a golden generation of Rovers youngsters, including Grant Hanley, Jason Lowe, Junior Hoilett, Phil Jones and Alan Judge.

And though he is based on the other side of the fence right now, he hopes both Wanderers and Rovers can face each other as top-flight teams once again in the foreseeable future.

“The clubs are similar – they are both Premier League in everything but name,” he said. “Circumstances are different right now but I see no reason why they can’t get back there.”