A trip to Ewood Park to face Blackburn Rovers is the next test for Paul Warne’s Rotherham United on Saturday, in the Sky Bet Championship. 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 54-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 twice with Boro in 1986/87 and 1987/88, taking them from the Football League Third Division to the Football League First Division. He also won promotion while playing for Ipswich Town in the Football League First Division, via the Play-Offs in 1999/00.
After retiring, he was caretaker boss at Ipswich Town in October 2002 before taking over at Hibernian in 2004. He moved to West Bromwich Albion in October 2006 and guided them to the Premier League as champions in a spell which included a semi-final in the FA Cup, the first to be played at the new Wembley, in 2008. He had a short spell at Celtic and went on to manage Middlesbrough and Coventry City before joining Blackburn Rovers and helping them to promotion last season to the Championship.
Stats
Blackburn sit in eighth position, one point off the play-offs and five points off top spot. In their last five games, Blackburn have won three, drawn one and lost once. They have scored six goals in their last five games, conceding five. In their last game, they won 1-0 at home against QPR courtesy of a Bradley Dack penalty.
Previous Meetings
This is the 43rd meeting between the sides with Rotherham only winning seven of these fixtures. Blackburn have won 24 with there being 11 draws on record. In the last 10 games, Blackburn have won seven of these fixtures, with Rotherham only winning once. A 2-0 victory in September 2014 at 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 New Year’s Day 2018, with a 1-1 home draw. David Ball’s 89th minute equaliser rescued a point for the Millers after Bradley Dack’s opener.
Ones to Watch
Our ones to watch start with Canadian international keeper Jayson Leutwiler. Due to David Raya’s injury against West Brom, the 29-year old has become the number one. He came through FC Basel’s youth system and has represented Switzerland from under 16 to under 20 level before switching allegiances. He is best known for his three year spell at Shrewsbury Town, making over 100 appearances before joining Blackburn in 2017.
In defence, the Irish pair of Darragh Lenihan and Derrick Williams have stepped up. Williams came through Aston Villa’s youth system before making over 100 appearances for Bristol City and has represented Ireland at senior level. Lenihan has also represented the senior Ireland side this year and has almost amassed 100 appearances for Blackburn.
In midfield, Bradley Dack is taking the Championship by storm. The former Gillingham midfielder has scored nine goals and has five assists to his name this season and was on the scoresheet last time out against QPR. They also have fifty-capped Northern Ireland international Corry Evans who has made over 150 appearances for Rovers since joining from Hull City.
Upfront, they have experienced striker Danny Graham. The 33-year old is approaching a century of appearances for Rovers, after successful spells at Watford and Swansea City. They can also call upon Adam Armstrong, who joined Blackburn permanently from Newcastle United. When Armstrong was at Coventry City on loan, he scored 20 goals in 40 games and was also a member of the England U20 World Cup squad that won the tournament in 2017.