Football League World
·4 March 2022
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·4 March 2022
Blackburn Rovers will be hoping for redemption tomorrow afternoon as they travel to Craven Cottage to face league leaders Fulham, with three points for either side potentially massive for their respective missions.
Tony Mowbray’s side may not be as comfortable as this weekend’s hosts in the top six – but their victory over Queens Park Rangers last weekend was vital in ending their winless run and that will provide them with renewed hope coming into this tie.
Catching AFC Bournemouth may be seen as unrealistic at this stage considering Scott Parker’s side have three games in hand over the Lancashire club at this stage.
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However, third-placed outfit Huddersfield Town are favourites to win three points against relegation battlers Peterborough United tonight and with that, a victory for Rovers would be ideal to keep the pressure firmly on Carlos Corberan’s side.
A finish in third or fourth would also provide them with a home tie in the second leg of the play-off semi-final and that could be crucial on their potential journey to Wembley, so three points could end up being vital for them in their success.
Their 7-0 defeat back in November shows this task will be an extremely tricky one – and we have predicted 11 who will need to step up from minute one to win a point or three this weekend.
Thomas Kaminski did a fine job against Mark Warburton’s men and to retain as much stability as possible, he has to remain between the sticks, though you could also count on Aynsley Pears to do a job if the Belgian had to be withdrawn at any point.
The back three also remains the same with Scott Wharton, Jan Paul van Hecke and captain Darragh Lenihan forming an established partnership in the centre. Mowbray will be hoping all three can remain fit with Ryan Nyambe unable to cover them in the event of an injury.
With Nyambe out of action, Deyovaisio Zeefuik is the man to come in ahead of Joe Rankin-Costello and the Dutchman certainly won’t have an easy task to deal with, though it remains to be seen whether he will come up against Bobby Decordova-Reid or Neeskens Kebano.
Ryan Giles’ impact late on against QPR last weekend certainly provides the second-tier side’s boss with a selection dilemma at left wing-back ahead of this tie – but it may be a better idea to utilise the Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee in a more advanced position with Blackburn likely to be pinned back at times.
Joe Rothwell should be fit enough to play tomorrow, something Mowbray revealed yesterday, but Bradley Johnson’s defensive contributions keep him in the starting lineup.
And with Lewis Travis doing enough during his last match, Rothwell’s appearance may need to come from the bench. That’s testament to the starting midfield duo who did brilliantly in remaining solid last time out.
Reda Khadra had a mixed game against the R’s, missing a couple of glorious opportunities in the first half, but claimed the all-important winner and responded well to missing a penalty against Sheffield United.
Another attacking player who performed well was Tyrhys Dolan who could have been forgiven for being a little rusty considering this was his first start in a while, but he was excellent and he takes his place in the starting lineup again alongside Sam Gallagher who operates out wide.