Having both fallen all but out of reach out the top six in the Championship table following defeats at the weekend, Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield Wednesday will do battle at Ewood Park on Tuesday.
The two sides find themselves 12th and 13th respectively and tied on 52 points, with the hosts only better off on goal difference on the back of five straight defeats.
Match preview
Blackburn Rovers return to Ewood Park on Tuesday aiming to end a dismal run of Championship form and pick up a first victory under the management of Valerien Ismael at the seventh attempt.
Even following the February departure of John Eustace, they remained in the Championship playoff spots with a pair of victories under the temporary stewardship of David Lowe, but his interim tenure ended with a defeat and Eustace’s permanent successor Ismael has since been unable to arrest a slide out of the top six.
From their six games under the new boss, the Rovers have only managed a single point courtesy of an opening 1-1 draw with Norwich City, before going on to suffer five straight defeats heading into the weekend, having only scored two goals across those games.
After returning from the final international break of the season with a 1-0 away loss to Portsmouth at the end of March, they most recently hosted fellow playoff-hopefuls Middlesbrough on Friday and again came away empty-handed as Tommy Conway and Samuel Iling-Junior scored inside 10 minutes in a 2-0 away triumph.
Having now dropped down to 12th spot and eight points behind the top six with just six games remaining, and with pressure growing on Ismael and the club hierarchy, Blackburn Rovers will be desperate to at least end their season on a high with an improved run starting on Tuesday.
Their visitors make the trip to Lancashire in a similar position, having seen any playoff hopes all but erased on Saturday.
Despite losing five of their previous eight matches before the March international break, culminating in a home loss to rivals Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday did still return to action with the hopes of closing in on the playoff spots having earned 51 points from 38 outings.
Danny Rohl‘s men would visit strugglers Cardiff City and settle for a disappointing 1-1 draw, which did at least see them move within five points of sixth spot, thanks to Michael Ihiekwe‘s leveller, before hosting relegation-threatened Hull City on Saturday.
The Owls were unable to bounce back to winning ways in that contest and again came away empty-handed, as Charlie Hughes broke the deadlock and snatched all three points for the visitors deep into injury time.
Now finding themselves in the bottom half and eight points off the top six with quickly increasing concerns of the club’s hierarchy, Sheffield Wednesday will also bid to bounce back on Tuesday with a 10th away league win of the season, with only four Championship sides topping their tally of 30 points on the road.
Team News
Blackburn Rovers will continue to contend with a long injury list on Tuesday, as Owen Beck, Scott Wharton, Hayden Carter, Callum Brittain, Harry Leonard, Andreas Weimann, Augustus Kargbo and Emmanuel Dennis should all remain sidelined.
Valerien Ismael may opt to make changes from Friday’s 2-0 defeat, with Sondre Tronstad hoping to displace John Buckley and rejoin Lewis Travis in the engine room, while Yuki Ohashi and Cauley Woodrow will compete for attacking spots.
Ohashi could get the nod over Makhtar Gueye up front, with Gueye having only scored once in his last eight Championship appearances, while Tyrhys Dolan, Todd Cantwell and Ryan Hedges will hope to continue in support in their 4-2-3-1 setup in the absence of Weimann and Dennis.
Sheffield Wednesday’s injury issues have eased in recent weeks, with defenders Di’Shon Bernard and Max Lowe now their only enforced absentees heading into Tuesday’s trip.
Akin Famewo was deemed fit to start in his second appearance back after a layoff dating back to October, and he should again get the nod alongside Michael Ihiekwe in the middle of a back four despite competition from Dominic Iorfa, while 19-year-old Pierce Charles has been preferred over James Beadle in the last two outings.
Elsewhere, midfielder Stuart Armstrong has returned to contention but may again have to settle for a substitute appearance behind key men Barry Bannan and Shea Charles, while Anthony Musaba, Ike Ugbo and Callum Paterson will compete for attacking places.
Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Pears; Rankin-Costello, Hyam, Batth, Ribeiro; Tronstad, Travis; Dolan, Cantwell, Hedges; Ohashi
Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
P Charles; Valentin, Ihiekwe, Famewo, Johnson; S Charles, Bannan; Gassama, Windass, Musaba; Smith
We say: Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Sheffield Wednesday
Both left wounded by poor runs which have dashed their playoff hopes, we anticipate a close encounter on Tuesday at Ewood Park.
With the hosts yet to get going under their new manager and Sheffield Wednesday at least excelling away from home this term, we give a slight edge to the visitors.
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