Blackburn Rovers are currently in a state of freefall having lost their last four games and the club’s manager spoke on his frustration following yesterday’s result, in an interview with the club’s website.
Rovers travel to Queens Park Rangers on Saturday, with Gareth Ainsworth’s side sitting just two places below them.
The run of results is quite alarming for a team that started the season so brightly, albeit with some mixed results, but they were near the top and in a good position to make a move that would firm up any promotion aspirations.
Alarming Run Of Form
A closer look into their run of defeats will also show that perhaps they are not ready to make a serious run for automatic promotion this year, and the playoffs could also be a step too far.
After beating Harrogate 8-0 in the Carabao Cup, they lost 3-0 at Plymouth Argyle which began a poor run of form. A 3-1 reverse at home to Sunderland, was followed by a 4-3 thrilling defeat at Ipswich Town.
Rovers had some relief from the league with a Carabao Cup win over Cardiff City, which brings up a trip to Chelsea in the next round.
Back to the bread and butter though and the Championship form faltered again. Leicester City rolled into Ewood Park and took all three points with a 4-1 win, and this past Wednesday night they travelled to Coventry City losing 1-0 to an 85th-minute header from Haji Wright.
Rovers boss Jon Dahl Tomasson spoke to RoversTV directly after the Coventry defeat but was still upbeat…
“We’re of course disappointed with the result, but we can’t complain about the performance because the boys did an excellent job. We played good football against a good side and it was an equal game. A draw would have been fair.
“We created plenty of good opportunities and a big moment was our disallowed goal. Those decisions change games and those decisions aren’t really going our way at the moment. It was a strange incident, wasn’t it?”
The credentials of the teams that have beaten Blackburn over the last few weeks are that of real promotion candidates. Leicester and Ipswich are leapfrogging each other in what looks like a race for the title, and Sunderland is just below waiting to sniff out any slip-ups, whereas Coventry will be looking to get back to Wembley and go one better in this year’s playoffs.
Writer’s View
Blackburn Rovers are the team that are one of the ‘nearly’ teams in recent years. They have flirted with promotion pushes, only to fall away when it matters most.
This run of bad form will likely be a temporary blip, as they have good squad depth and experience. Upcoming games against QPR, Cardiff, Millwall, and Swansea City will be a good marker as to their real credentials this season and whether their squad can bounce back from a recent slip of form.
