Championship | Gameweek 30

Jan 31, 2025 at 8pm UK

Ewood Park (Blackburn, Lancashire)

Blackburn vs Preston

Match preview

Blackburn's playoff push has hit a bit of a snag recently, with three straight losses against Oxford United, Coventry City and Bristol City.

In their most recent game against the Robins, Rovers went into half time on level terms after Andreas Weimann scored to cancel out Scott Twine's early opener.

But then Nakhi Wells scored in the 77th minute for Bristol City, which meant Blackburn lost narrowly. This was their third loss in four away league games.

This defeat means that John Eustace's team are now out of the playoffs, leaving them in seventh place with a two-point gap to the top six.

Rovers will now be back at Ewood Park, where they've had a bit of a disappointing run recently. They've won just one of their last five games (D1, L3), with that one being against Portsmouth earlier this month.

Having not won their last five games against Preston, Blackburn will head into Friday's match hoping to claim their first head-to-head win since easing to a 4-1 victory in April 2022.

Preston might be in 15th place and five points behind Blackburn, but they'll be feeling pretty confident going into Friday's match. They've had a five-game unbeaten run since losing to West Bromwich Albion on New Year's Day.

Paul Heckingbottom's team drew with Oxford United and Luton Town, and then got a FA Cup win over Charlton Athletic, before they beat Watford 2-1 away.

They repeated that 2-1 scoreline in Saturday's home clash against Middlesbrough, with Stefan Teitur Thordarson and Emil Riis grabbing a goal each to extend Preston's unbeaten home run to eight Championship matches.

They've only lost two of their 15 home league games (W6, D7), but they've struggled on their travels, winning two, drawing six and losing six of their 14 Championship away matches.

But after beating Watford on their last away game, the Lilywhites now have the chance to claim back-to-back away league victories for the first time since February/March 2024.

They'll probably draw inspiration from the fact that they've won their last two away games against Blackburn, including a 2-1 victory on their most recent visit to Ewood Park in November 2023.

Recent Performance

Blackburn Rovers Championship form:DLWLLL

Blackburn Rovers form (all competitions):LWWLLL

Preston North End Championship form:WLDDWW

Preston North End form (all competitions):LDWDWW

Team News

Blackburn can't call upon Hayden Carter, Harry Pickering, Sondre Tronstad, Scott Wharton, Arnor Sigurdsson and Yuki Ohashi.

Todd Cantwell is hoping to prove his fitness after missing last Saturday's defeat to Bristol City with a calf problem.

Owen Beck was only deemed fit enough to play a substitute role against Bristol City, but he could return to the starting lineup for Friday's fixture.

Meanwhile, Preston captain Ben Whiteman is set for a spell on the sidelines after picking up an ankle injury in training.

Jayden Meghoma and Robbie Brady will try to shake off knocks in time for the derby clash after picking up back and ankle issues in the win over Middlesbrough.

Riis could be rewarded with his first start since 4 January after he came off the bench to score the winner last weekend.

Possible starting lineup

Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:

Pears; Brittain, Hyam, Batth, Beck; Forshaw, Buckley; Dolan, Weimann, Hedges; Gueye

Preston North End possible starting lineup:

Woodman; Storey, Gibson, Hughes; Kesler-Hayden, McCann, Thordarson, Meghoma; Frokjaer-Jensen; Riis, Osmajic