Blackburn Rovers and Millwall; two sides that are undefeated in their last five Sky Bet Championship games – a statistic that has very contrasting connotations depending on which fanbase you ask.
Rovers head into Wednesday’s late-night home clash having picked up three wins during their five-game streak, seeing them sneak above their opponents in the table – good enough for ninth place and a potential playoff push.
An undefeated spell of five games that results in a team slipping down the table is a rarity, but that’s just what’s happened at The Den, with every result ending in deadlock draws.
Now sitting in 11th place, Millwall supporters are slowly starting to see the dream of a playoff spot dwindling before their eyes, and this game is surely being treated as a must-win to leapfrog Blackburn in the playoff race.
Ones To Watch
Adam Armstrong, Rovers number seven, tops the goalscoring charts with an impressive return of 13 goals in 14 matches. He has found the back of the net four times in Rovers’ last three fixtures, giving them the best goal difference in the entire league.
The goalscoring machine could be nullified by the tremendous defensive discipline that Millwall have shown during the season, with Jake Cooper and Shaun Hutchinson making a case for the best defensive partnership in the league – the saving grace to such poor finishing throughout games.
The defensive duo will be tested by tricky youngster Tyrhys Dolan, the former Preston North End player who has flown out of the blocks at his new home. By humiliating defenders and returning three goals in 6 games, the 18-year-old attacking midfielder is showing signs of real promise.
A Weight On Jed’s Shoulders?
Millwall’s primary goalscoring threat this season has come from the experienced Jed Wallace, increasing his goal tally to five after last Wednesday’s 1-1 stalemate against Reading- a worrying sign as we are yet to see another Millwall player score more than one goal this season.
One player who could change the dull scoring record for the East London side is Troy Parrot.
Parrot is still looking to get off the mark for Millwall, having returned from an ankle ligament injury against Reading, with manager Gary Rowett telling London News Online, “he was bright. For an 18-year-old player to make his league debut, I thought he was excellent”, earning himself a start in the latest 0-0 against Birmingham City.
Fixture Pile Up Beginning To Take It’s Toll
Something that is becoming a salient subject in football is the sheer amount of injuries that clubs are having to deal with due to the hectic schedule, an issue that sadly effects this fixture.
Millwall will line-up without Kenneth Zohore, Mason Bennett, Mahlon Romeo, Connor Mahoney and Billy Mitchell, with Matt Smith likely to be one of those recalled to the squad, while left-back Scott Malone is pushing for a start on the left.
Blackburn have similar injury issues, although manager Tony Mowbray appears optimistic about the return of Scott Wharton and Barry Douglas after the defensive pair were forced off against Barnsley, reporting to iFollow Rovers, “It was just a precaution to take him (Scott Wharton) off. He’ll have a good night’s sleep and hopefully we’ll see on Monday if he’s training or not”.
“Barry, he’s got an issue with his glute, the muscle in his backside was just uncomfortable for him, he’ll go for a scan and we’ll see if it’s a slight tear or whether it’s down to a bit of fatigue. There are lots of fatigue injuries in football at the moment for every club,” he added.
The Outcome
Whoever comes out on top after Wednesday night’s battle will be firmly in the playoff race, with a victory for Rowett’s side seeing them overtake Rovers, whereas Mowbray will be looking to add four points of breathing space between the two clubs.
Just please, no draw.
