22-year-old makes honest admission about his future ahead of Blackburn Rovers return

Hayden Carter has admitted that he wants to be playing in the Championship next season for Blackburn Rovers.

The defender was loaned out by Rovers during the January transfer window to Portsmouth and is set to officially return to Ewood Park on May 31st when his temporary deal at Fratton Park expires.

Before being sanctioned a temporary switch to Fratton Park, Carter was limited to just nine appearances for Blackburn in the Championship due to the presence of Daniel Ayala, Darragh Lenihan and Jan Paul van Hecke.

The 22-year-old slipped further down the pecking order at Blackburn following Scott Wharton’s return to action and thus it was hardly a surprise when he was allowed to leave on loan earlier this year.

During his time at Portsmouth, Carter featured on 22 occasions for the club in the third-tier as Danny Cowley’s side sealed a 10th place in this division.

Whereas Carter has refused to rule out a move back to Pompey in the future, he has revealed that he is hoping to be given a chance to impress on a regular basis in the second-tier for Blackburn next season.

Speaking to The News, Carter said: “Firstly, I’ll go back to Blackburn for pre-season as fit as I can ready for the season ahead and see what the manager thinks and what’s best for my career.

I wouldn’t say coming back to Portsmouth is not possible – and I wouldn’t say it’s definitely going to happen.

“You never know in football, if the option (of Pompey) came up and I feel that’s the best thing for my career in terms of playing games and developing then I would be open to it.

“But, at the moment, it’s just a case of having a rest, going back to Blackburn as fit as possible and seeing what happens.”

Carter later added: “I am definitely ready for the