Match Preview: Blackburn Rovers (H)

The Opposition:

Rovers have earned a total of 28 points from their 17 league games thus far. John Eustace’s men come into this game on the back of three consecutive league wins over Cardiff City, Middlesbrough and Leeds United respectively.

Meanwhile, they were knocked out of the Carabao Cup in the Second Round following a 2-1 home defeat to Blackpool, and will face fellow Championship side Middlesbrough in the third round of the Emirates FA Cup.

During the summer, Blackburn made 10 additions to their squad. They brought in Makhtar Gueye, Balázs Tóth, Todd Cantwell, Andreas Weimann, Danny Batth, Jack Barrett and Yuki Ohashi [pictured] on permanent deals and completed the loan acquisitions of Amario Cozier-Duberry, Lewis Baker and Owen Beck.

Sammie Szmodics, Sam Gallagher, Leopold Wahlstedt, Semir Talalović and John Fleck all left the club permanently. Jake Garrett, Connor O’Riordan, Jack Vale and Dilan Markanday were sent out on loan.

Ten players made their way out of the Under-21 side and one player left the Under-18 team. Patrick Gamble, Jordan Eastham, Harrison Wood, Jake Batty, Kristi Montgomery, James Edmondson, Adam Khan, Tom Atcheson, Solomon Honor, Nicholas Michalski and Lorenze Mullarkey-Matthews are all currently out on loan.

Press Call:

Interim Head Coach Andy Dawson and forward Ryan Longman spoke to members of the press ahead of hosting Blackburn at the MKM Stadium.

Andy Dawson:

"The lads have been really bright. They’ve worked extremely hard. We’ve got a lot of information into them but I have to say that the way they’ve approached training and the analysis, the lads have been top. Everyone seems to be in a really good place." - Dawson on training this week.

"There's always positives and negatives when you win or lose in a game of football, because as a coach, you are trying to develop individuals and as a collective as well. I thought some of the play on Saturday [vs Middlesbrough] in such a short turn around was really good." - Dawson on last week's performance v Middlesbrough.

"The thing that Mason [Burstow] and Abu [Kamara] have done have kept working hard every day. The attitude and application that they have showed previously going into the Middlesbrough game doesn't surprise me that they scored a goal, and when you score that first goal, the amount of confidence it gives him and the people around him is great and we have seen that in all the group this week." - Dawson on Mason Burstow scoring his first goal. 

Ryan Longman:

"We’re heading into the Christmas month where it is game after game, so to pick up some form is going to be key for us over this three to four-week period." - Longman heading into the next few games. 

"It has been a good week. Obviously building up to Blackburn now and we have a few really good days of training under Daws'. We are getting back to the basics of it and hopefully his way of training us will get us a result on the weekend." - Longman on training this week. 

"Things can change quickly in football and this is when we need it to change, which is this Saturday." - Longman on aiming to change current form around. 

Team News:

Andy Dawson provided an update on the squad ahead of the Blackburn test. 

“We’re all fine and ready to go on Saturday afternoon; we have no new issues.,” said Dawson in his pre-match press conference. 

Full-back Cody Drameh was substituted in the last test against Middlesbrough due to a small injury, but Dawson has provided that the defender will be involved against Rovers. 

“Cody is fine. He is a top, top, top lad Cody. Attitude, application, professionalism is top. We had a chat with him on Monday morning, and I cannot speak highly enough of him and the rest of the group with the way they have worked this week; they have got each other’s backs and that is a good trait to have.”

Focusing on long-term absentees, Dawson also provided updates on Steven Alzate, Carl Rushworth and Doğukan Sinik. 

“Steven is a possibility [to feature vs Blackburn]. He has come in, not got many minutes as he got injured, but he is coming back now,” said Dawson. 

“We spoke to him last Friday and he wasn’t on the bench [against Middlesbrough], but this week, he has been top in training. All the challenges that you put in front of the players and the ones that give you what you expect are the ones that will go and progress, and Steven has done that, so he has put himself in a really good position to do that moving forward.

“Carl is another who is a top pro and top lad. Hopefully he will be back in the next three or four weeks, but he’s not in training yet. He has plenty of experience of the Championship,” added Dawson. “It was big loss for us that he got injured, but Ivor’s [Pandur] done fantastically well. We have Anthony [Racioppi], Tim [Lo-Tutala] and Harvey [Cartwright], and we are really lucky with the keepers we have got in the building so it is all positive on the keeper front. 

“It has been really difficult for him [Doğukan Sinik]. It will still be a while for a return. He is a top, top lad and I feel so sorry for him. He worked so hard to come back. I remember shouting from the side as he blocked a shot when he got injured, and somebody sort of fell on the side of him. 

“You feel so sorry for him, but his work rate and attitude in the gym has been top and I feel sorry for him, because that is hard for him. What he did out there was a negative for him at the time, but if he keeps doing those things, it will be a positive thing long-term in his career.”