Blackburn Rovers man looks set for an unexpected opportunity this week after Preston flashpoint: View | OneFootball

John Eustace will be unable to call upon one summer signing in the next few games

Blackburn Rovers continued their unbeaten start to the 2024/25 Championship season on Sunday afternoon, as they played out a goalless draw with Preston North End at Deepdale.

That result means they have taken 12 points from their six league games so far this campaign, putting them fourth in the current standings.

However, there will be some frustration around Ewood Park that they did not take more from that game, after playing more than half the match against a side with ten men.

Sam Greenwood's red card for a bad challenge on Lewis Baker gave John Eustace's side a man advantage for much of the game, which they were unable to make the most of.

Another frustration for Blackburn from that game is the suspension that is now incoming for Owen Beck, after his own red card late on in the game.

Owen Beck set for three-game ban

With around three minutes of normal time remaining in Sunday's game, Beck was himself sent off by referee Matt Donohue, who had long since lost control of the match.

The on-loan Liverpool left-back was adjudged to have kicked out after the whistle had gone and was given his marching orders for the first time in his senior career.

There is of course, still plenty of fall-out to come from Preston striker Milutin Osmajic's "alleged" bite on the left-back in the aftermath of his challenge.

That though, will not change the fact that Beck will now be unavailable for the next three Blackburn games due to his suspension from that dismissal.

He is therefore set to miss the visit of QPR to Ewood Park on Saturday, and subsequent away trips to Coventry City on Tuesday, and Plymouth Argyle the following weekend.

Given the way he has performed so far this season, that is no doubt going to be seen as a blow for Rovers, although it will surely also represent an opportunity for one other player at Ewood Park.

Harry Pickering has a chance to reclaim his Blackburn spot

Having joined on a season-long loan from Liverpool in the final week of the summer transfer window, Beck has started all three games the club have played since then.

The 22-year-old was brought to Ewood Park in the summer in order to provide cover and competition at left-back for Harry Pickering, with no other senior options in that position.

Initially, Beck had been thrown in the deep end with his first two starts in the draw with Burnley and win over Bristol City, with Pickering absent from those games due to injury.

Against Preston on Sunday though, the Liverpool loanee was named in the starting XI despite Pickering being available, with the 25-year-old forced to settle for a place on the Blackburn bench.

That would seem to suggest that Beck had already usurped Pickering in the pecking order at Ewood Park, which would have been understandable given his outstanding first two performances.

Given he also did little wrong at Deepdale before his sending off - even looking like one of Rovers' best performers - it is unlikely that would have changed had it not been for this upcoming ban.

But with Beck now unavailable for the next three games over the course of the coming week, Pickering is surely set to come back into the Blackburn side at left-back for that period at least.

Indeed, he did so from the bench to help Rovers see out the match at Deepdale on Sunday afternoon.

As a result, thanks to that flashpoint that few could have predicted in that match, there is now a chance for Pickering to make a move back up the pecking order at Ewood Park.

Eustace has already shown that he will keep players in the side if they perform for him, regardless of the new signings that may have been brought in to provide cover in those positions over the summer.

That has already been shown in goal, where the in-form Aynsley Pears has kept his place in the XI - and impressed - in the last two games, despite the exciting deadline-day arrival of Balazs Toth.

Consequently, if Pickering can perform well for Blackburn in these next three games, he may also expect to keep his place in the side, even when Beck is available again beyond that.

Given how solid the Liverpool loanee had been prior to that flare-up late on at Deepdale, this is not a chance that Pickering, or anyone else, might have expected him to get so soon.

But given Beck has done enough to stake a claim for an immediate return once his ban is over, it may be one Pickering has to take over these three games in eight days, if he wants to continue playing regularly for Blackburn in the coming months.