Michael O’Neill to hold talks with Blackburn after club’s safety confirmed

Blackburn boss Michael O’Neill said he will have talks with the club over his future after his side’s 3-1 win at Sheffield United guaranteed Sky Bet Championship survival.

Yuki Ohashi scored twice either side of Japan team-mate Ryoya Morishita as Rovers stormed into a 3-0 half-time lead in their penultimate game of the season.

Harrison Burrows pulled one back for the Blades early in the second period, but Blackburn sealed just their second win in seven matches to climb eight points clear of the bottom three, who all have two games to play.

Northern Ireland manager O’Neill opted to take on both roles when appointed until the end of the season in February following the sacking of Valerien Ismael.

When asked about his future, O’Neill said: “Of course, those discussions will take place. You know, the club have a decision to make themselves and what direction they want to go.

“I’m a contracted manager, so the situation doesn’t really change. I suppose, for any club if they wanted to me as their manager, they would have to go through the IFA, they would have to meet the terms of the release clause, and I would have to want to do it.

“This was a loan and I suppose, given where we are, it’ll be deemed as a successful loan.

“I’ve enjoyed the club. There’s a lot of really, really good people at the club and I’m sure conversations will happen one way or the other in the weeks ahead.”

O’Neill, who said he underestimated the dual role and that he could not do both on a permanent basis, said he felt “relief more than anything else”.

He added: “I’m delighted for the players, delighted for the club. Obviously, I don’t really like to call it celebration, because at the end of the day, you never want to be in this situation.

“But a really good performance. First half, you know, obviously, a terrific performance.”

Blades boss Chris Wilder, who had targeted a top-10 finish after back-to-back wins against Hull and Watford, made four half-time substitutions and said it was “a really disappointing night”.

“We were just miles off of it first half. No energy, no spark,” he said.

“Against a counter-attacking team who sit in and make it hard, finding that first goal is important. We should have found it after 35 seconds, but we didn’t.

“They sit in as you’ve seen their shape and they make it difficult for you and we just didn’t have the nous to break it down.

“The first goal is important and it’s really disappointing yet again, from our point of view, the first goal and the things that we could do better.”