Blackburn Rovers host Lancashire rivals, Preston North End in a huge Sky Bet Championship clash.
Victory would lift Blackburn up to 19th in the table, whilst Preston can climb to sixth with a win or draw.
Team News
Sondre Tronstad is set to be available for Blackburn despite having suffered a knock in their 3-1 victory at QPR last weekend.
Todd Cantwell (foot), Augustus Kargbo (hamstring) and Scott Wharton (Achilles) remain absent.
Preston could welcome Robbie Brady (calf) and Brad Potts (knee) back into contention subject to late fitness checks, following the pair’s return to training.
Daniel Iversen (groin) and Liam Lindsay (knee) remain sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Blackburn host Preston at Ewood Park on Friday 20 February at 8pm GMT, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Blackburn have lost two of their last seven league meetings against Preston (W2, D3, L2)
- Preston have avoided defeat in seven of their last nine visits to Blackburn (W5, D2, L2).
- Blackburn have won their last two matches against Preston by 2-1 results (W2).
- Todd Cantwell, Andri Gudjohnsen and Yuki Ohashi have been involved in more goals than any other Blackburn player this season (7), although Gudjohnsen is only one of the trio yet to create an assist this season.
- Preston have won just one of their last five away games (W1, D2, L2).
Prediction
Sat three points above the relegation zone and having produced a clinical display to beat QPR last weekend despite being outplayed in attack, Blackburn now need to use that performance as a base to kick on if want to stay up.
Preston meanwhile will be disappointed at the manner in which they let their first-half lead slip early in the second half against Watford, but to fight back against a tough opponent for a point was a solid result that could be the difference come May.
This game though is important to both teams at opposite ends from a psychological perspective in terms of their immediate rivals who play on Saturday, but there is local pride also at stake so I expect a close game and wouldn’t be surprised if we see a draw here.
Prediction: Blackburn 1-1 Preston
Result: Blackburn 1-0 Preston