Blackburn Rovers: Burnley viewing may have been particularly awkward for Harry Pickering - View | OneFootball

There could be a battle to be first choice in one position at Ewood Park

Blackburn Rovers claimed a well-earned point on Saturday, from an entertaining draw with local rivals Burnley at Turf Moor.

Having just been relegated from the Premier League - which allowed them to invest significantly this summer - and with a strong recent record in this fixture, the hosts were favourites ahead of kick-off.

Indeed, the visitors themselves had only avoided relegation from the Championship on the final day of last season, further emphasising the expectation on the Clarets.

Things did look as though they would play out that way, with Burnley dominating the opening exchanges and taking an early lead through Lyle Foster's header.

However, Blackburn hit back through Andi Weimann's stunning Goal of the Season contender, which proved enough to earn them a point.

Although it was the hosts who had the vast majority of possession over the course of the 90 minutes, they struggled to work Aynsley Pears in the Blackburn goal after the equaliser.

Instead, Rovers' defence stood firm to largely limit the openings the hosts created, even after Makhtar Gueye's red card with half an hour remaining reduced the visitors to ten men.

With Tyrhys Dolan's controversial disallowed goal and late chances for Lewis Travis and Lewis Baker, some of a Blackburn persuasion may feel they could even have snatched the win here.

Even so, a point was a good one in the circumstances, and one of the performances many visiting fans will have enjoyed on Saturday, was that of Owen Beck.

Liverpool loanee enjoys excellent Rovers debut

The trip to Turf Moor gave Owen Beck something of a baptism of fire with which to start his Rovers career.

It was only on Tuesday that the left-back had joined the club, when he signed on a season-long loan from Liverpool.

Having completed that move, Beck was then thrown in at the deep end when named in the Blackburn starting XI on Saturday afternoon.

But after a slightly nervy start, the 22-year-old did not take long to grow into the game, and from there, became increasingly assertive and confident in his approach.

Beck did not back down from any challenges, and did well to keep the dangerous Luca Koleosho quiet down the right for Burnley.

Indeed, by the end of the game, the Liverpool loanee had made himself a firm favourite with the Blackburn fanbase by full-time, with many immediately singing his praises.

From a personal perspective though, one individual at Ewood Park who may have been somewhat concerned by what he saw from Beck on Saturday, is Harry Pickering.

Harry Pickering now has competition for his Blackburn spot

The reason for Beck's inclusion against Burnley on Saturday, was the injury-enforced absence of Pickering.

Having been forced off with a knock in the Carabao Cup defeat to Blackpool on the same day the Liverpool loanee was signed, head coach John Eustace decided not to risk Pickering at Turf Moor.

In doing so, the 25-year-old may now find it hard to get his place back in the side, given it is going to be hard to justify dropping Beck, if he maintains the level of performance he showed on Saturday.

After joining in 2021, Pickering's first two seasons with the club saw him as the clear first-choice in the pecking order at left-back, ahead of Tayo Edun.

With Edun never fully establishing himself after making the step-up to the Championship with Blackburn after signing from Lincoln, Pickering's spot remained largely secure.

Last summer, Rovers did not sign a left-back despite the exit of the former Imps man to Charlton, there was no senior competition for Pickering to start the campaign.

That allowed him to keep that spot locked down, even after the January loan signing of Ben Chrisene from Aston Villa.

His starts would either come playing in a more advanced role, or filling in for Pickering when he was out through injury.

Following Chrisene's exit in the summer - he has since joined Norwich City permanently - that meant Blackburn needed more left-back cover for Pickering, which they got with Beck.

Now though, the Liverpool loanee's performance at the weekend may have changed the complexity of the situation somewhat.

With Blackburn operating in a 4-2-3-1 throughout the season so far, there will no be the need to use both left-backs in the way there was when including both Pickering and Chrisene in a 3-5-2.

Meanwhile, with the Liverpool loanee having just produced such an impressive performance against a team many consider among the best in this division, he should have no problems in settling here.

Indeed, there may even be an expectation that he will improve even further with more experience, making him an even stronger option to use as the campaign goes on.

That in turn, will put even more pressure on Pickering to do what he can to keep his place in the side this season.

With that in mind, it seems as though the business that Blackburn have done this summer at left-back, may have already altered the situation for their longer-serving senior figure in that position.