TalkingPoints

Scott Parker takes charge of his second game after a thrilling 3-3 last time out! How do you see this one going? 👀

Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images

“He’s going to be massive for me,” Parker says. “You know, I’ve obviously watched Jarrod from afar and gone up against him many a time.

“He’s captain of this football club with absolutely huge, huge qualities. I see someone who is honest as anything really. You talk about humility in teams. You talk about humility in human beings.

“That’s someone who’s got some serious humility, and I can’t wait to work with him. He’ll be massive for us this year.”

Bowen scored twice for Hull City against Parker’s Fulham side back in 2020, a shock 3-0 win at Craven Cottage coming only a few months before they beat Brentford in the play-off final at Wembley.

If he nets his 60th Championship goal at Ewood Park, Bowen will have reached double figures for six successive seasons as a West Ham player.

“[Parker] is someone I’ve played against over the years, someone that I know is a really, really big character in the dressing room,” the skipper said in Cardiff. “He’s obviously got a lot of love for the club, and the group that he’s got, we have West Ham inside the changing room. I think that’s so important.

“And I think you see the crowd, I think they appreciate him so, so much. So we have to use these moments, we have to use these things to our advantage, in our favour and take it into Saturday because it’s a massive game at Blackburn.”