Blackburn Rovers are the next team to travel to the AESSEAL New York Stadium, as they face Paul Warne’s Rotherham United in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday. Here, we take a look at who the Millers will be facing in our opposition analysis…
In the Dugout
Tony Mowbray will be the man sitting in the dugout for Blackburn on Saturday. The 55-year old played as a defender in his playing career, representing Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town, making over 550 career appearances as well as representing England B three times. In his playing career, he won promotion three times, twice with Middlesbrough and one with Ipswich Town.
After retiring, he was caretaker boss at Ipswich in October 2002 before taking over at Hibernian in 2004. Since Hibernian, he has had spells at West Bromwich Albion, Celtic, Middlesbrough and Coventry City before joining Blackburn Rovers in February 2017. As a manager, he has had two promotions, one with West Brom in 2008 and the other one with Blackburn last season from League One.
Stats
Blackburn currently sit in 15th position in the Sky Bet Championship table. In their last five games, they have lost four and drawn once, with their last win coming in the form of a 3-0 home victory over Hull City in late January. In their last five matches, Blackburn have conceded 11 goals and scored five. They have also picked up a red card in that run with Derrick Williams being sent off in their 0-1 defeat against Middlesbrough.
Their last game was a 2-2 away draw against Birmingham City. Che Adams opened the scoring for the hosts before Charlie Mulgrew equalised for Blackburn. Rovers took the lead in the 83rd minute with Danny Graham scoring but two minutes later, Adams scored his second to equalise for the Blues to share the points.
Previous Meetings
This is the 44th meeting between the sides with Rotherham winning 11of these fixtures. Blackburn have won 24, while there have been eight draws. In the last twelve games, Blackburn have won seven of these fixtures, with Rotherham only winning once. A 2-0 victory in September 2014 at the AESSEAL New York Stadium gave the Millers all three points in the Championship after first-half goals from Kári Árnason and Luciano Becchio. The last fixture that was played was on November 2018, with a 1-1 away draw. Michael Smith opened the scoring in the 75th minute before Bradley Dack scored in the 81st minute to equalise.
Ones to Watch
Our Ones to Watch start with Spanish international David Raya. The 23-year old goalkeeper started at youth academy at UE Cornellà before joining Blackburn in 2012. He signed his first professional contract with Blackburn in February 2014. He had a productive loan spell at Southport before returning to his parent club. He made his league debut for Blackburn in April 2015, keeping a clean sheet in a 3-0 victory over Leeds United.
In defence, Ryan Nyambe is youngster to keep an eye on. The 21-year old, who hails from Namibia, has come through Blackburn’s youth system and has been ever-present in the right-back spot. He has made over 70 appearances for the club and could be partnered by former England international Jack Rodwell who has been transformed into a centre-back. The 27-year old has represented Everton, Manchester City and Sunderland in his career and has three senior caps for England after representing the U16, U17, U19 and U21 side.
In midfield, Bradley Dack has been the star man for Blackburn this season. The former Gillingham midfielder has scored 14 goals and has nine assists to his name, making him the main danger man for this fixture.
Upfront, the experienced Danny Graham is close behind Dack in the scoring charts. The striker sits on 12 for the season, with three assists and the former Sunderland and Swansea striker will be looking to surpass his teammate by the end of the season.