Valerien Ismael confirms "big" Blackburn Rovers blow ahead of Preston - "we didn't expect that" | OneFootball

Blackburn will travel to face Preston on Friday evening

Valerien Ismael has confirmed that Blackburn Rovers have suffered a double injury blow ahead of Friday night’s clash against Preston North End.

The Championship action returns at Deepdale, with the first Lancashire derby of the campaign.

Blackburn will be keen to get back to winning ways after they went into the break with a 2-1 loss at home to Derby County, which left them just six points clear of the relegation zone.

Ismael’s side had won their previous three fixtures, and their away form has proven a key part of their campaign so far, having earned 12 of their 16 points on the road.

But they will face an in-form Preston, who are unbeaten in their last four games and could move into the automatic promotion places, at least temporarily, with a win on Friday night.

Valerien Ismael provides Blackburn injury update ahead of Preston clash

Ismael has claimed that Todd Cantwell has suffered a setback in his bid to return to fitness for Blackburn, with Hayden Carter also likely to be out for longer than initially expected after an issue in his recovery process.

However, Moussa Baradji could be available for selection at Deepdale after making a return to training in recent weeks.

"Todd [Cantwell] had a setback with his injury,” said Ismael, via the club’s official X account.

“But in the last couple of days, he looks much better, so hopefully, if everything goes right over the weekend, he might be available for next week.

“Hayden Carter, is the main one, he had this massive setback with a calf injury, which is a big blow, we didn't expect that.

“It's frustrating for him, it's frustrating for us, so we have to deal with this new situation.

"On the positive side, Moussa Baradji trained fully with the team this week, so he's back in training and might be available for games now."

Cantwell hasn’t played for Rovers since 4 October after he suffered a knee injury, and it now remains unclear how long until he will be back in the team.

Meanwhile, Carter has made just one appearance so far this season, playing all 90 minutes of their 1-0 win over Watford on 13 September, with a calf injury currently keeping him on the sidelines.

Blackburn are 19th in the Championship table, but could move up to 16th with a win, at least until the rest of the weekend’s action takes place.

Ismael’s side will travel to Deepdale on Friday night for an 8pm kick-off.

Injury blow is a setback for Blackburn’s hopes of a win at Preston

Cantwell has been important for Blackburn so far this season, scoring three goals and assisting one from his seven appearances.

And Carter’s sole appearance coming in a 1-0 highlights the key role he could be playing in this side if he could get back to full fitness.

Not only is this setback a blow for Rovers ahead of their important away trip to Preston, it’s also a blow for the upcoming few weeks.

This is a busy period of the year, and Ismael will be hoping to have all hands on deck, so losing these two for even longer could really hurt as the fixtures come thick and fast.