Takeover talk of little concern to boss Dickov

The Keepmoat Stadium outfit issued a statement on Monday which revealed the club had rejected takeover proposals from Irish consortium Sequentia Capital, shortly after a second group potentially interested in taking over the club withdrew their offer.

Sequentia, whose bid is supported by chairman John Ryan, one of three majority shareholders at the club, subsequently stated they had not closed the door on purchasing Rovers, despite their much-publicised offer – which includes a pledge to spend £20m-plus on players – being rebuffed.

This week, Sequentia, backed by a wealthy Belize-based tycoon, agreed a deal, subject to being ratified by the board, to buy around 1.3 per cent of the club’s shares from former chairman Trevor Milton and ex-director Michael Garrity, two of Rovers’ minority shareholders, and are planning to purchase more.

It remains to be seen what the future holds for Rovers, with Milton fearing that the club will stagnate and could drop back into League One unless the Sequentia offer is accepted.

Dickov, whose side host his former club Leicester this afternoon – with the Foxes having won five of their last six games in all competitions – said: “It’s something I can’t let affect me. There was a lot of talk in pre-season time about it. But my efforts and thoughts have to go into what is happening now.

“I have got a fantastic board who have backed me, who I get on great with. Alright, we won’t win every game, but we’ll get a team who compete really well.”

Leicester are another club blessed with a budget that Rovers could only dream of, not that Dickov is shying away from the challenge and making excuses, mindful his side have picked up points against the likes of Blackburn, Wigan and Nottingham Forest already.

Urging his side to embrace the underdog tag again he added: “What we have got to do is to go out there and play with no pressure and fear because yet again, it’s another game where no one is expecting anything from us.”