DAVID Dunn has delivered many great moments during his Blackburn Rovers career and one of his finest came in the East Lancashire derby.

The true club legend is able to make the difference when it is needed most, to carry his team-mates on his back when they are flagging, to salvage the incredible from the seemingly impossible.

Think Steven Gerrard against AC Milan in 2005, Roy Keane against Juventus in 1999.

A team that was down and out, rescued by the performance of one man.

For Blackburn Rovers, defending their long unbeaten record against arch rivals Burnley was just about as important as it got.

As a rare local lad in the Rovers team, Dunn knew that. Time and again, he delivered against Burnley.

A crucial equaliser in a 3-2 victory at Ewood Park in 2009, then a winner from the penalty spot at Turf Moor later that season – after Burnley fans had tried to wake him up before the game by calling him at 4.30am.

But maybe nothing will quite compare with that moment on March 17, 2013 when Dunn somehow preserved Rovers’ 34-year unbeaten run against their rivals.

It was Dunn’s own Rocky moment. He begun the game by chasing a chicken, released on to the pitch from the Riverside Stand by a fan in protest at owner Venky’s, and ended it by delivering a sucker punch.

When all others had given up hope at 1-0 down, Dunn kept on running. His persistence was rewarded with the most dramatic of goals in the fifth minute of injury time. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a louder roar at Ewood Park.

As long as Dunn was on the pitch, Rovers’ remarkable record against Burnley always seemed safe.

It was only when he was substituted last season that Sean Dyche’s side came from a goal down to lead 2-1.

Left to chase the game without their talisman, you suspected Rovers’ run might be over, and so it proved.

In his time at Rovers, Dunn has been one of the most honest and honourable men you could ever wish to interview.

He never shied away from questions about the issues that were affecting the club, even in the most difficult times in recent years. His passion for Rovers has never been in doubt, but it was perhaps then that it shone through most.

While remaining respectful to his employers, he spoke about the chaos at the club and how the players themselves had to do more.

He understood how much Rovers’ slide was hurting the fans, because it was hurting him too. He was one of them.

Dunn was that rare thing in modern football, a representative of the supporters on the field.

The East Lancashire derby will not be the same without him, and neither will Blackburn Rovers.