Blackburn Rovers ended a run of five games without a win last weekend by beating Millwall 2-0 at Ewood Park. Goals from informed frontmen Andri Gudjohnsen and Yuki Ohashi secured a comfortable win against an out-of-form Millwall side.
It was also a good day for the Rovers academy with first-team debuts for Matty Litherland and Nathan Dlamini. Not only that, but there was a first championship match for Tom Atcheson. George Pratt also played another 90 minutes in what was an impressive return to the club after a loan spell at Chorley.
It leaves them 20th in the Championship table, and six points ahead of Oxford United in 22nd, with a game in hand.
Middlesbrough, on the other hand, is second and six points behind leaders Coventry City. Boro went four games unbeaten following the arrival of Kim Hellberg before suffering a shock 2-0 defeat at Bristol City last time out.
Blackburn Rovers team news
Blackburn Rovers could turn to the academy again for the trip to Boxing Day, with a possible new name on the injury list. Valerien Ishmael confirmed In-form striker Gudjohnsen is in doubt after picking up a hamstring injury against the Lions.
Andri Gudjohnsen’s stats for Blackburn Rovers
| Performances | Begins | Goals | Expected goals |
| 17 | 15 | 7 | 5.81 |
Gudjohnsen joins Kristi Montgomery, Hayden Carter, Scott Wharton, Jake Garrett, Adam Forshaw and Augustus Kargbo on the sidelines.
However, Ismael revealed that Balazs Toth may return to the squad on Friday.
Predicted XI
(3-4-2-1)
Pears; Miller, McLoughlin, Pratt; Litherland, Gardner-Hickman, Tronstad, Heggen; Cantwell, Morishita; Ohashi
Despite Toth’s return to fitness, expect Aynsley Pears to remain in goal for the time being. Also expect the same back three as against Millwall, with Sean McLoughlin leading Pratt and Lewis Miller either side of him.
It would be difficult to replace Litherland at right wing-back after his impressive performance against Millwall last week. He was instrumental in Rovers’ first goal, working tirelessly down the right flank.
Expect Ryan Hedges to return to the starting line-up at left wing-back after coming off the bench against Millwall in place of Harry Pickering. It is widely believed that Pickering will leave the club in January, with the defender likely to find himself in trouble for minutes.
Taylor Gardner-Hickman returns to the XI along with Sondre Tronstad. The two defensive midfielders will need to be in good form against a Middlesbrough side who have scored 33 goals so far this season.
Expect there to be a slight change in formation in attack, with Morishita and Cantwell supporting Yuki Ohashi, who will take on the role of sole striker in Gudjohnsen’s absence. It will be interesting to see what the dynamics of the Blackburn Rovers attack will look like without the Icelandic striker.
The clash between Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough kicks off at 3pm on Friday afternoon and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Plus.
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