Source: SKY_Sports
Blackburn v Portsmouth preview
Blackburn and Portsmouth will be looking to secure Premier League safety when they meet on Saturday.[LNB] Both sides are still looking anxiously over their shoulder as the season comes towards a close, but know three points this weekend will allow them to relax heading down the final stretch.[LNB]Neither team will enter the contest with any momentum, though, with a lack of consistency costing them dear all season.[LNB]Rovers have lost three of their last four to remain in trouble, while Pompey have taken just one win from their last five games to prevent them from pushing into mid-table.[LNB]On a more positive note for the hosts, Blackburn have tasted just one defeat in nine games on home soil since Sam Allardyce took charge.[LNB]Rovers will also take heart from the fact that Pompey have failed to win any of their last 11 games away from Fratton Park and have failed to score in their last three outings.[LNB]Whatever the outcome it promises to be a close contest, with the record books suggesting the two teams are evenly matched.[LNB]Only one of the 11 Premier League games between the pair has ended all square, but eight of the 10 victories have been by a one-goal margin.[LNB]Striker crisisBlackburn will again be without injured strikers Roque Santa Cruz (knee) and Jason Roberts (fractured metatarsal).[LNB]That means defender Chris Samba is again likely to partner Benni McCarthy in attack.[LNB]David Dunn, Steven Reid and Brett Emerton all remain sidelined through injury.[LNB]Fitness battleDefenders Glen Johnson and Younes Kaboul are battling to recover from thigh muscle injuries.[LNB]Noe Pamarot is suspended after being sent off against Arsenal last week but veteran Linvoy Primus, back from a loan spell at Charlton, is likely to figure in the squad.[LNB]Manager Paul Hart looks set once more to start with Peter Crouch as a lone striker with Kanu, John Utaka and David Nugent on the substitutes' bench.[LNB]Possible starting XIsBlackburn: Robinson, Ooijer, Nelsen, Givet, Warnock, Diouf, Grella, Tugay, Pedersen, McCarthy, Samba.[LNB]Portsmouth: James, Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Hreidarsson, Pennant, Mullins, Hughes, Davis, Traore, Crouch.[LNB]
