Blackburn V Sunderland at Ewood Park : Match Preview

20 March 2012 16:26
Blackburn manager Steve Kean has virtually a fully-fit squad for the visit of Sunderland in the Barclays Premier League.

Defender Bradley Orr missed the win at Wolves last time out with a hamstring problem but has returned to training and played in a practice match last week.

Midfielder David Dunn has recovered from an Achilles injury so only Vince Grella is unavailable. Rovers are looking for back-to-back wins for the first time since November 2010.

Kean admits opening up a six-point gap over the bottom three would be "massive" and he feels his side will have revenge on their mind after losing to a 90th-minute goal in Martin O'Neill's first match in charge back in December.

"We found ourselves on the end of a result in Martin's first game in charge so we feel as if we owe them one and if we continue to play the way we are playing there is no reason why we can't," he said.

"We let ourselves down a little bit in terms of defending too deep and in the last couple of minutes we were hanging on for a point until Seb Larsson bent in a free-kick. "We are playing well at the moment so we will get after them.

"Martin has done fantastic since he went there but we have got to stop that and make sure we set the tone of the game because Sunderland are coming to our ground."

Sunderland full-back Phil Bardsley is fighting to be fit. The former Manchester United defender is battling to shake off a rib injury to retain his place in the team, although left-back Kieran Richardson has been ruled out with the calf problem which kept him out of Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final draw at Everton.

Striker Stephane Sessegnon completes his three-match ban and will be available for Saturday's league clash with QPR, a game midfielder Lee Cattermole will sit out as he serves the last instalment of his four-match suspension, and defenders Wes Brown (knee) and Titus Bramble (Achilles/calf) remain on the sidelines.

Even Martin O'Neill, who has spent much of his time at the Stadium of Light to date insisting his side was engaged in a relegation battle, concedes that victory in Lancashire would complete his first mission.

He said: "I think now that 40 points this season will definitely secure survival in the Premier League. "With the sides now in the positions that they are in, I think it would take a lot now for those sides to achieve 40 points.

"The truth is this year, if you were to give any of the bottom five 40 points, obviously they would take that in a trice." Blackburn, of course, are one of those bottom five teams despite a recent rally which has lifted them three points clear of the drop zone, although O'Neill believes their cause is far from forlorn.

He said: "Their run has been great. They won at Old Trafford and I am quite sure with the best will in the world, they wouldn't have been expecting to have done that, and that will have given them a big boost.

"The results just after that might not have gone their way, but to win that game, that's three points you wouldn't have expected.

"During the course of the season, teams will be able to find a game where something turned for them, either positively or negatively. "From their viewpoint, that win at Old Trafford was theirs."

Blackburn V Sunderland - view commentary, squad, and statictics of the game live.

Source: PA