Blackburn v Preston Tips: Oppose injury-hit Rovers

•  Blackburn down to the bare bones

• Preston relish trips to Ewood Park

• North End backed to avoid defeat

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Blackburn v Preston
Friday January 31, 20:00
Live on Sky Sports

Blackburn beaten at Bristol City

Blackburn boss John Eustace is begging Rovers' owners to dip into the transfer market with up to three new additions to help halt their dip in form. Last week's 2-1 loss at Bristol City was Blackburn's third on the spin, and sixth in nine Championship outings, a run of results that's left Rovers outside of the top-six following an impressive first half of the campaign.

Scott Wharton, Hayden Carter, Harry Pickering, Sondre Tronstad, Todd Cantwell, Arnor Sigurdsson and Yuki Ohashi all remain on the treatment table, whilst Owen Beck was running on empty at Ashton Gate. Four other players played through the pain barrier and Eustace is desperate to address his lack of options before Friday night's fixture.

Eustace said, "The spirit the boys showed was outstanding - we had a couple more drop out just before kick-off. The group showed great spirit and togetherness, and I thought we were really good. When we get a few more players back from injury, and hopefully we can bring two or three good quality players into the group as well, things will change."

Preston impress in Boro victory 

Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom praised his side's attitude during their 2-1 win over Middlesbrough at Deepdale last weekend. Goals from Stefan Thordarson and Emil Riis secured victory for North End - it was the Lilywhites' third success in four matches and sees the side move to within touching distance of the Championship's top-half.

Heckingbottom said his team grew into the game against Boro and took their chances after giving themselves a good foundation defensively. He said, "I'm delighted with the performance and application against a good side. We had a couple of moments where we weren't brave enough, but I would always back us to get moments of control and we did." 

However, captain Ben Whiteman faces a spell on the sidelines after picking up a "nasty" ankle injury in training, ruling him out for an extended period. Heckingbottom has said he may now be forced to look to the transfer market to bolster his midfield options. Lewis Gibson and Jayden Meghoma have already been brought in and had an impact for PNE.

Rovers too short to support

Matches between Lancashire rivals Blackburn and Preston have been competitive contests this century with North End edging the head-to-head record W6-D5-L8. That record includes the Lilywhites boasting a remarkable W5-D2-L1 return from their last eight trips to Ewood Park, with the visitors taking top honours here in three of their most recent four renewals.

Since a six-game winning streak came to an end before Christmas, Blackburn 2.1211/10 have struggled for form as injuries began to bite. Rovers are W1-D2-L6 in their last nine, failing to even score in five of their six defeats - that includes just W1-D1-L3 in their past five Ewood Park outings. John Eustace's outfit had only lost two of their previous 10 home tussles.

Preston 3.8014/5 continue to move clear of relegation trouble under Paul Heckingbottom's watch. North End are W7-D13-L5 since the start of September - highlighting their tough-to-beat nature. The Lilywhites have tabled only two triumphs on their travels across the campaign (W2-D6-L6) yet boast a solid W5-D8-L3 return when facing top-half teams.

Lilywhites to pick up a positive result

Both Teams To Score - No 23/202.15 was a strong consideration for Friday night after the reverse encounter back in September ended goalless. However, this fixture tends to produce goals with only five of their 18 meetings this century seeing BTTS No bank. Preston have also seen all bar five of their 14 away days this season return BTTS profit.

Instead, I'm happy to partner Preston Double Chance and Under 3.5 Goals together at 1.9720/21. We've already highlighted North End's eye-catching record in the derby (as well as at Ewood Park), the Lilywhites' ability to avoid defeat against the division's elite, and Blackburn's loss of form lately. And that's without mentioning Blackburn's injury issues.

Backing Preston Double Chance and Under 3.5 Goals at close to even-money sees us make money should PNE win 1-0, 2-0, 3-0 or 2-1, or the game ends in a 0-0 or 1-1 stalemate.

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