Fresh Yuki Ohashi news may provoke mixed Blackburn Rovers feelings: View | OneFootball

The 28-year-old's performances at Ewood Park have not gone unnoticed

It has been a strong start to life at Blackburn Rovers for Yuki Ohashi, following his move to Ewood Park in the summer transfer window.

The 28-year-old arrived at the club in late July, signing from Sanfrecce Hiroshima in his native Japan for an undisclosed fee on an initial three-year contract.

With last season's Championship golden boot Sammie Szmodics departing for newly-promoted Premier League side Ipswich Town, there was a pressure on others to step-up in attack.

So far, Ohashi has certainly done that. After coming off the bench to score on debut and seal an opening day win over Derby County, and has remained a threat since then.

The attacker also scored a brilliant header to earn Blackburn a late draw at Norwich, as well as netting a stunning brace that secured a 3-0 win over Bristol City.

As a result, he is currently the club's top scorer with five goals - and an assist - in ten appearances in all competitions, form that is not going unnoticed in his home country.

Yuki Ohashi gets Japan call-up

On Thursday morning, it was announced that Ohashi has been called up to the senior Japan squad for this month's round of international fixtures.

The Samurai Blue are due to play two games in October, travelling to Saudi Arabia and then hosting Australia in their next two qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup.

For Ohashi, this marks a new opportunity, with the Blackburn striker having never been given the chance to represent his country at any level before.

This therefore, is surely going to be an exciting moment for the 28-year-old, as he looks to break new ground in his career.

For those of a Blackburn though, it could be argued that there may be somewhat mixed feelings about this Japan call-up given to Ohashi.

Blackburn will want their top scorer to stay fit and fresh

On the one hand, everyone connected with Rovers ought to be delighted for their new striker about this recognition and opportunity that he has deserved.

Having seen just how good he can be since he arrived at Ewood Park, after an excellent spell with Hiroshima, they will know that Ohashi is good value for this opportunity on form alone.

Beyond that though, the striker has also shown an exemplary attitude and commitment in the way he has applied himself since making the move to Blackburn.

With that meaning he is already a hugely popular figure around the club, they will feel that he is certainly due a reward such as this.

However, it is also worth noting that Ohashi has taken on a rather heavy workload over the course of 2024.

Given the Japanese season started back in February, the striker did not have a summer break before joining Blackburn in July.

As a result, he has now been competing for what is almost a whole season in terms of time since he last had a break.

That is perhaps starting to have a bit of an effect, with the striker looking slightly tired and not quite as sharp in the past couple of games.

With that in mind, Blackburn may have been hoping to use the break after their trip to Plymouth Argyle this weekend, as a chance to give Ohashi a rest after such a busy schedule.

Had they been able to do that, they may have hoped he would have been fresh and ready to make an impact again after the break, when there is another condensed set of fixtures.

But with Ohashi now in line to feature for Japan during the break for international action, they will not be able to do that.

Instead, they will find themselves hoping that a summer signing who has quickly become a key player, does not run himself into the ground or pick up an injury, while not even playing for them.

If that was to happen, it could of course then have a rather significant impact on just what Rovers can get out of one of their key attackers, over the next few weeks and months of the season.