[themaclad]

Blackburn Rovers v Preston North End
Ewood Park 10/11/2023 2000 hrs

https://www.rovers.co.uk/

https://www.brfcs.com/forums/topic/36717...-h-101123/

MANAGER

Jon Dahl Tomasson (Danish pronunciation: [ˈtsʰomæsʌn]; born 29 August 1976) is a Danish football manager and former player who is the current head coach of EFL Championship club Blackburn Rovers.

A forward, his most notable run of football came in his first stint at Feyenoord, with whom he won the 2002 UEFA Cup, and Italian club AC Milan, with whom he won the UEFA Champions League in 2003 and reached the final in 2005. He also played top-flight football in England, Germany and Spain. He is the joint all-time top goalscorer for the Denmark national team with 52 goals in 112 games and was also honoured with the Danish Player of the Year award in both 2002 and 2004. He played at the UEFA European Championship in 2000 and 2004 and the FIFA World Cup in 2002 and 2010.

After his playing career, Tomasson went into coaching, being both assistant and manager in the Netherlands, before becoming assistant manager in the Denmark national team under Åge Hareide. In 2020, Tomasson became the manager of Malmö FF and left two years later after winning the Swedish championship for two consecutive seasons. In June 2022, he signed a three-year deal at Blackburn Rovers.

LAST TIME OUT





Norwich were dire to say the least and the keeper Rovers had in goal appeared to have no hands

WHOSE HOT



Sammy occasionally puts them in with his hands

INS AND OUTS



WE'VE MET BEFORE



Apart from the Covid games been to all the others

THE JOY OF EX

Dolan and Walker (on loan at Morecambe last I heard)

CULTURE

Pleasington Priory, or the Church of St Mary and St John Baptist, is a Catholic church in the village of Pleasington, Lancashire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.[1] The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner describes it as being "an astonishing church",[2] and the citation in the National Heritage List for England states it is an "exceptional form of Catholic chapel for the period before Emancipation".[1]

History
The church was built between 1816 and 1819 as a thank offering by John Francis Butler at a cost of £23,000 (£1.86 million as of 2021),[3] the architect being John Palmer and the sculptor Thomas Owen.[1]

In 2018, with the retirement of the Parish Priest Canon Kevin Kenny, Pleasington Priory ceased to be an independent parish and was joined with the neighbouring parishes of St Peter in Chains, Mill Hill, and St John Vianney, Livesey to form the new joint parish of St Oscar Romero. The Parish Priest, Fr Shaun Braiden residing at St Peter's.[4]

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Who’s Available?

After playing 45 minutes in the Lancashire Senior Cup on Tuesday, defender Calvin Ramsay is expected to be part of the squad which will make the short journey to Ewood Park.

Andrew Hughes, who has been missing through injury since the end of September, could also make a return for this fixture.

Ali McCann and Jack Whatmough won't be back available until after the international break, while Emil Riis' long-awaited return is expected some time before Christmas.

Opposition Focus

After missing out on the Play-Offs by goal difference last season, Rovers will be hoping to put together another bid for the top six this time around.

Accumulating ten points in their opening ten matches of the campaign, Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side started slightly slowly, however four wins in their previous five matches send them into Friday’s derby full of confidence.

Their last outing saw them win 3-1 away from home over Norwich City last weekend, with star man Sammie Szmodics scoring twice, and it looked as though Scott Wharton would be ruled out of this match after seeing red against the Canaries, but Rovers successfully appealed the decision.

Match Officials

Referee: Thomas Bramall
Assistant Referees: Matthew Wilkes and Steven Meredith
Fourth Official: Andrew Kitchen

Thomas Bramall, who officiated North End’s defeat to Leicester City last month, will take charge of this fixture. So far this season, he’s shown 33 yellow cards and one red.

A trip on a Friday night back to the 4th century BC luckily as it's dark will mask the grime of that of the depressing place, interesting game, we've not had a clean sheet for ages and judging by last weeks game at Norwich, Rovers don't appear to have a keeper or a defence, so it's a nailed on 0-0
Smozdis is a danger providing he does not use his arm to put the ball into the net. Ramsay may be available given Liverpool's insistence that he plays in a certain number of games may get an outing.
We've sold 5400 apparently it's our cup final could think of better places to play but the swamp land will have to do.

[themaclad]

Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End meet on Friday for the first time in the Championship this season, having had contrasting fortunes.

Ryan Lowe's Lilywhites raced out of the blocks, topping the table having been unbeaten after seven games.

Rovers have had an up and down campaign but welcome North End off the back of four wins from five league fixtures.

With Preston slipping to sixth after losing momentum, and four places separating the sides, BBC Sport looks at what is at stake in this Lancashire derby.

Preston's start to the season was impressive as they mounted their best start to a campaign since 1903.

Having drawn against Bristol City on the opening day, Ryan Lowe put together a remarkable run of six consecutive victories, culminating in their fine display against Birmingham City on 19 September.

Lowe's side were forced to mount a comeback on that Tuesday evening at Deepdale, with Krystian Bielik putting the ball into his own net and Milutin Osmajic completing the turnaround to put them top of the Championship.

But in eight games since then Preston have won just once and slipped from top spot down to sixth in the table, way off pacesetting leaders Leicester and Ipswich.

"They're [Blackburn] a good team, everyone knows that, they're very intricate in the way they play," Lowe told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"Whether there's a rivalry or not, they've got a fantastic manager and it's a game that we feel will be important for both sets of clubs and fans. We'll treat them the same as we treat any other team - with respect but without any fear."

Preston come into the short trip to Ewood Park off the back of a 3-2 win against Coventry City, and Lowe has no doubts about his side's resilience after another come-from-behind win.

"I actually asked them before the game to try and outrun Coventry - if we did that we'd have a chance of winning, and we certainly did," he added.

"Everything I've asked them to do they've gone out and done. We want to continue that as much as we can, having the mentality to come back.

"That's the Championship of late. But I'm just pleased they go out and acquit themselves the right way."

'

Their results have not always matched their performances on the pitch, but they have surged up the table courtesy of their better recent form.

Sunday's win against Norwich City lifted Jon Dahl Tomasson's side five places from 15th to 10th and within striking distance of the top six.

"I think we should be proud of our players with how they're performing at the moment. They have a lot of confidence and should do going into this derby," Tomasson told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"There will be a lot of fans, it's going to be a great atmosphere so it's a great moment to put in a good performance before the international break as well."

Rovers will have defender Scott Wharton back after his red card against Norwich was rescinded on appeal, but the club have suffered a blow with the news that Joe Rankin-Costello will be out for three months having suffered a hamstring injury during the victory.

Dom Hyam is also out for Blackburn, giving Tomasson a defensive headache.

"I'm disappointed for the players who are injured. We know the players want to help the team, which is why it is quite incredible that they have been able to win a lot of games recently, if you see how stressed the squad is," Tomasson added.

"We've had a lot of away games and we've been travelling a lot. I'm disappointed to have injured players but the positive is that Scott Wharton is able to be involved after his red card against Norwich.

"If we had been playing 11 versus 11, it probably would have been our biggest win this season."

Analysis - 'difficult derby to call'
BBC Radio Lancashire's Andy Bayes

This is a meeting of two teams who will feel they've a chance of reaching the top six this season, but in recent times haven't managed that feat.

Blackburn Rovers haven't made the play-offs since they were relegated from the Premier League in 2012. Alan Irvine was the Preston North End boss the last time they made it to the play-offs, in 2009.

Not a lot was expected of Rovers this season, following high-profile player departures and a chunk of the budget being removed over the summer. The reality is that they are pretty much where they were this time last year. They don't tend to draw matches, it's normally one or the other for them.

North End, likewise, can be a little difficult to predict. Six straight wins was a dream start to the season following an opening-day draw, but that was followed by a seven-match winless run.

Between 1980-81 and 2015-16 these two sides were in the same division for just one season (2000-01) but they've met in the second tier in seven out of the past eight campaigns.

You'd be right not to call them arch-rivals. Ask Rovers fans and it's Burnley that they sing about. Similarly, North End consider Blackpool as their nearest and not so dearest. But, don't be fooled into thinking that it means nothing to the supporters either. Both sides have had 4-1 away wins in this fixture in the past 19 months, so bragging rights are important.

Who comes out on top heading in to the international break? It's a difficult one to call.

[themaclad]

Blackburn Rovers 1 Szmodics Preston North End 2 Browne, Lindsay

Blackburn Rovers line-up: Wahlstedt; Travis, Hill, S.Wharton, Brittain; A.Wharton, Tronstad; Sigurðsson (Leonard, 78), Dolan (Markanday, 78), Moran; Szmodics. Subs not used: Hilton, Ennis, Gamble, Batty, Garrett, Atcheson, Telalovic.

PNE line-up: Woodman; Storey, Lindsay, Best; Potts, Whiteman, Browne, Millar (Brady, 69); Holmes (Frøkjær, 69); Keane (Evans, 61), Osmajić. Subs not used: Cornell, Bauer, Stewart, Ledson, Woodburn, Mawene.

Attendance: 20,596 (5,789 PNE fans).

Referee: Mr T Bramall.

A day which started with me dropping a pint of milk ended with North End being the cream of Lancashire, with a victory over the only other Lancashire team in the league. Nightmare journey forgot how bad traffic is at rush hour on a Friday night. Parked up in Darwen near the wonderfully named Yip's chips and walked the mile or so down the road to a place still stuck in the 14th century.
Full away end which saw a frenetic opening which both sides could have scored, defensively we were not great all night and scrambled away, whilst Holmes had an effort blocked after good work by Osmajic.
Rovers were getting in behind our back four too easily and Dolan did just that and his cross should have been buried by Sigurosson but he volleyed against the bar, the woodwork at the Darwen end would get a battering again three more times.
Did well to keep Rovers out and then took the lead, Holmes to Potts, cross field ball to Browne, his control of the cross was outstanding and no keeper was saving that shot, possibly gainst the run of play but that's the way it goes.
Rovers unlucky not to level Moran's shot hitting the bar. Half time in the lead probably fortunate.

First ten minutes of the second half we were all over the shop Szmodics got in behind the defence, Woodman badly positioned Rovers level, same move a couple of minutes later he is in behind the defence again, this time the keeper is in a better position and saves it. Hanging on we manage to get through the siege and then on the hour came the change which probably won us the game.
On came Evans by which time the woodwork had been hit again this time by Holmes, the frontman made a difference won tackles held the ball up and brought players into play, Frokjaer also made a difference and showed that he is getting to grips with the English game.
The woodwork was hit again this time by Osmajic although wouldn't have counted as he was offside.
Down the other end Sigurosson was inches away from connecting with a cross but the winner was to come at the other end, corner not fully cleared, Frokjaer headed the ball to Browne who found Whiteman, chip into the box and Lindsay wanted it more than their lad and in it went, bedlam in the away end, survived the six minutes of injury time to be Pride of Lancashire

All that was left was Mr Fantastic's fist pumps to the away end

Blackburn head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"We're extremely disappointed to lose the game. I don't think we deserved to lose the game, if you look at our overall performance.

"We were the better team and created more chances than the opponent. We were probably lacking clear chances in the final third and runs in behind - when we did that, we created chances immediately.

"We should have done that better in the first half, but we still hit the bar twice in that first half."

On Szmodics: "He's doing great. He's one of the oldest boys, at 28, but he's also playing like a senior player, helping the team and scoring goals, working hard."

Preston manager Ryan Lowe told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"When you're winning derbies, you're always going to enjoy it. The lads were fantastic.

"We had to deal with large parts of their pressure, and how they play - they're a good footballing team, but we withstood all that.

"I'm disappointed with the goal [conceded] but the lads showed real character and desire, a never-say-die attitude, and to score the winner in front of our fans, in stoppage time, it probably can't get much better.

"We're a strong, resolute team that can overpower some teams, and I think we saw that with the [winning] goal. As long as they keep giving everything, we will win a lot of games."

On Browne's goal: "It's a fantastic goal. I see that on a daily basis in training. Pottsy can hit those balls and Browney can take those balls down out of the sky and finish them. Not just him, but other players in general.

"If there's a goal like that in the Premier League tomorrow, you'd be talking about it for weeks."

[themaclad]