Tom Cairney admits it will be a bit surreal lining up against his old Blackburn Rovers pals so soon after arriving at Fulham.

The 24-year-old has made a fine start to life in west London after swapping Ewood Park for Craven Cottage in the summer.

Sunday sees him go head-to-head with Rovers for the first time since making the move and it will be a strange feeling for the playmaker, who says his days at Blackburn were his best so far as a footballer.

Cairney said: “I had a great time at Blackburn, probably the best time of my career and I played 80-odd games. I really enjoyed it.

“The management and the staff were great with me but in football things move on and you just have to go with it.

Rovers days: Cairney in action with Cardiff City's Peter Whittingham

“It’s going to be a bit surreal lining up in the tunnel against my mates. I’ve had a few texts already so it should be good.

“It’s a bit earlier than I thought it’d be so it’s quite fresh and I hope I get a positive reception from the away fans.

“I think there might be one or two [negative supporters] but I didn’t leave on bad terms or anything so I’m sure it should be positive.”

Blackburn haven’t had the best of starts to the new Championship season having collected just three points from their opening five matches.

But they kept their first clean sheet of the campaign before the international break and Cairney reckons Rovers fans should have nothing to worry about with Gary Bowyer in charge.

Blackburn boss: Gary Bowyer

He added: “It’s not been the best start but I don’t worry about them [Blackburn] and I think they’ll be fine. They’ve kept Jordan Rhodes, which is massive, and I think they’ve still got a good back-four.

“He [Bowyer] has been brilliant. The first season I was there, after Steve Kean and what went off at Blackburn, what he did in terms of stabilising the club.

“To get Blackburn back on the fans’ side like he did, if a big manager like a [Nigel] Pearson had done that then he’d have got more credit but because he’s not a ‘name’ I don’t think he got the credit he deserved.”

Tickets for the Blackburn Rovers game, priced from £25 adults and £15 for juniors are now on general sale.

Call the Fulham ticket office on: 0843 208 1234 or go online at: www.fulhamfc.com/tickets

poll loading

Which team has done the best business this winter?