Source: Team_Talk
Rovers chief sings the Blues
Rovers, who travel to St Andrew's on Tuesday night, have kept four clean sheets in their last five games in the Barclays Premier League, but after three successive 0-0 draws are still only 12th in the table.[LNB]Birmingham, meanwhile, have shot up to eighth with four victories in a row - three of which have been secured by a single goal to nil, with Lee Bowyer netting the winner on each occasion.[LNB]Allardyce has been pleased with Blackburn's improved resilience at the back but now hopes his strikers can help the team to match the Birmingham model.[LNB]"It's something we thought we might have replicated - the tight defensive unit that they (Birmingham) are running now and how good they are at stopping the opposition from scoring a goal," Allardyce said.[LNB]"But they are also now finding the opportunity to get forward when they can and are producing some good quality finishes, particularly Bowyer.[LNB]"He has been finishing off what has been a great performance by the team.[LNB]"He has scored three in the last four games and that has won them the game rather than them drawing it.[LNB]"It shows the difference of what three points can do for you; they are on 24 points, level with Liverpool at the moment."[LNB]The best opportunities to turn Blackburn's goalless draw at Hull on Saturday into a victory fell to substitute Nikola Kalinic.[LNB]The young Croatian - who had a strike against Manchester United ruled offside in October - missed three chances after coming on in the second half and is still yet to score in the league for Rovers, but Allardyce insists the signs are encouraging.[LNB]"I don't want it to knock his confidence," Allardyce said.[LNB]"I think he is anxious at the moment to score his first Premier League goal and that was taken away from him at Manchester United.[LNB]"It shouldn't have been and that might have been the catalyst for him to already be comfortable in scoring goals in the Premier League.[LNB]"But until he gets his first one, it's going to unsettle him, like with any new player who comes into the Premier League for the first time, and particularly one at the tender age of 21. You want to get that first goal and move on from there.[LNB]"But the good thing for us is how many chances he created for himself in the short period of time he was on the field compared to what Franco (Di Santo) and Benni (McCarthy) had done."[LNB]Rovers' top scorer David Dunn is set to miss the trip to his old club tonight as he continues his recovery from the calf injury he picked up against Stoke last month.[LNB][LNB] Birmingham Evens, Draw 5/2, Blackburn 13/5
