Blackburn Rovers host relegation-battling Portsmouth at Ewood Park in a rearranged Championship clash.
Victory will lift Blackburn up to fifth in the table, whilst Portsmouth can climb to 20th with a win.
Team News
Amario Cozier-Duberry and Ryan Hedges could return for Blackburn after the pair missed Rovers’ FA Cup win at Middlesbrough, due to illness.
Adam Forshaw and Dion Sanderson could make their club debuts.
Hayden Carter (knee), Arnor Sigurdsson (thigh/calf), Lewis Travis (hamstring), Harry Pickering, Yuki Ohashi (both knee) and Scott Wharton (ACL) remain absent.
Portsmouth could hand loan signing, Isaac Hayden his club debut following his move from Newcastle until end of season.
Jordan Archer (quad) is a doubt but Conor Shaughnessy (calf), Regan Poole (hamstring) and Jacob Farrell (knee) remain sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Blackburn host Portsmouth at Ewood Park on Wednesday 15 January at 7:45pm GMT, untelevised live on TV in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Blackburn are unbeaten in their last five meetings against Portsmouth (W4, D1).
- Portsmouth have won one of their last seven visits to Blackburn (W1, L6).
- Blackburn have scored three goals in each of their last two home games against Portsmouth, during which they conceded just one goal across both fixtures.
- Rovers have lost their last two home matches by 1-0 results to Hull and Burnley respectively.
- Portsmouth have scored one goal and conceded 10 goals in their last four away games in the Championship (L4).
Prediction
Without a win in their last five league games, Blackburn will be happy to have ended that dip with a clinical FA Cup win at Boro but this is a chance for them to build on that performance in a game where they will be expected to win if can play with the high quality which they had before the festive fortnight.
Portsmouth meanwhile are pretty poor on the road with just five points in 13 away trips in the league this season and given their recent form and disappointing FA Cup exit at Wycombe, a huge defensive effort is needed here.
I however just can’t see Portsmouth winning this unless they produce a smash-and-grab as this should really be a routine home win if Blackburn can rediscover their spark.
Prediction: Blackburn 2-0 Portsmouth
Result: Blackburn 3-0 Portsmouth