Source: SKY_Sports
Stoke v Blackburn - live!
Have an enjoyable Saturday and I'll see you next week.[LNB] Thank you for joining me today. Lawrence and Stoke are leaving the field to a standing ovation and that will wrap up my coverage here today. I can confirm one other full time: Middlesbrough 0-0 Fulham.[LNB] Blackburn were never out of this game, but Stoke were good value for the three points.[LNB]90+3 That's it. Webb blows his whistle and Stoke are almost safe. This is such an important win for Pulis' men.[LNB]90+2 Pedersen's throw is headed clear. Not long left. Just a minute, surely.[LNB]90 Whelan fouls Nelsen as he tried to head the ball into open grass. Dunn puts the free-kick in to Samba but its bustled away for a throw-in. Nervy times.[LNB]89 Stoke are killing time here taking a throw-in and Pulis are urging his centrebacks to move up the field.[LNB]88 Stoke are sitting even deeper. Blackburn are camped in their half and Stoke look to counter attack. 3 minutes of stoppage time.[LNB]87 Into the final two or three minutes. Blackburn are heaving everyone forward but Stoke are packing men inside their own half to repel the danger.[LNB]86 Villanueva wins a corner for Rovers. Etherington makes way for Sonko - a straight defensive switch.[LNB]85 The fans here are tense and nervous and they keep checking their watches.[LNB]84 James Beattie comes off to be replaced by Richard Cresswell.[LNB]82 Samba looks to have taken up a new centre-forward position, as he was forced to do from the start last week against Liverpool. Stoke are holding onto the ball well here and Kelly breaks down the right wing. Only Beattie in the penalty area.[LNB]80 Diouf hits a long ball towards Samba whose cross is deflected behind by Faye. The resulting corner is caught again by Sorensen. He has handled well this afternoon.[LNB]79 David Dunn comes on to replace Mokoena.[LNB]79 Blackburn commit seven men forward, but Villanueva's shot is blocked and Nelsen gives it away. Stoke could break here.[LNB]78 Approaching the final 10 minutes here at the Britannia Stadium. What to Rovers have left? They have won a throw and that leads to another deep inside the Stoke half.[LNB]77 Pedersen looks to put a cross in from the left wing. Andrews and Warnock both head for the near post, but Pedersen never looked up and his cross went over everyone.[LNB]76 GOAL LAWRENCE - Liam Lawrence turns inside Givet after latching on to Higginbotham's header. Robinson got a touch, but he was beaten at his near post. 1-0 Stoke - how crucial could this be?[LNB]74 Blackburn have a throw-in after Sorensen kicked the ball into touch under pressure from Diouf. Sorensen comes out to claim and he releases Higginbotham on the left wing.[LNB]73 There's no rhythm at all. Webb's whistle goes again and the play will switch to the other end of the field through Sorensen's free-kick.[LNB]72 Diouf can not stop the ball from going out for a goal-kick, despite his best tussles with Faye. Faye is so strong and he needed every ounce of his power to usher the ball out of bounds.[LNB]71 Kelly fouls Pedersen as the Stoke defender tried to attack a through ball.[LNB]70 20 minutes to play here and Carlos Villanueva will replace McCarthy.[LNB]69 Fuller has a shot blocked just inside the penalty box when the ball careered into his path.[LNB]68 Robinson clashes into Beattie on the edge of his area as the centre forward latched on to Liam Lawrence's well-weighted cross.[LNB]66 The goalkeepers remain fairly quiet in this stop-start second half. One clear-cut chance could win all the points here. Who is going to take advantage?[LNB]65 Fuller and Nelsen lock horns in the Rovers box. Nelsen prodded the ball away but Fuller wins the corner at the second time of asking.[LNB]63 Whelan is penalised for the foul of Mokoena. I didn't see too much wrong with it, but maybe it was a coming together of their heels.[LNB]62 Delap's throw is not dealt with by Robinson or the Rovers defence. It falls to Fuller who lays it off to Lawrence. The midfielder should have shot first time with his left foor, but instead he shifted it on to the right but made it easy for the centre backs to run at him.[LNB]60 Faye does well to avoid the challenge of Diouf, turn back inside and lay the ball back to Sorensen. He's had a decent hour so far.[LNB]58 Nelsen is caught late by Liam Lawrence after he overran the ball. It looks like another clash of knees and Blackburn will have a free-kick.[LNB]56 Stoke are cranking up the pressure and controlling posession much better. They are looking the most likely to score first.[LNB]55 Etherington has a great chance to give Stoke the lead. He came steaming through the middle and got goal-side of his defender, only to head narrowly wide.[LNB]54 Beattie heads the ball backwards to Fuller who tries to play him over the top. The ball sits up for Lawrence who hits a fierce shot from the corner of the penalty box. Robinson had to be alert to tip it over the bar.[LNB]53 Stephen Warnock goes in for a heavy challenge and he'll now be booked too. This game could ignite any minute.[LNB]53 Samba goes to clear a bouncing ball from inside his own half and Ricardo Fuller jumps into him and knocks him to the ground. It was an unnecessary challenge and he'll be booked for it.[LNB]52 Warnock tries to slide it over to McCarthy but Shawcross was there to intercept.[LNB]51 Stephen Kelly comes on for Andy Wilkinson, who is obviously still nursing the small of his back from the end of the first half.[LNB]49 Stoke are building patiently down the right, knocking the ball in small triangles and edging forward. Dealp sends another throw into the box and Robinson is out to collect it easilt. There was no challenge though and Stoke will have to attack the ball better.[LNB]47 Stoke win a throw-in on their right-hand wing, just inside the Rovers half.[LNB]46 Andrews and Diouf, in the navy blue away strips, get things started, kicking off towards their followers.[LNB] Diouf and Faye shake hands and we are ready to get the second half started.[LNB] I've just been informed that Abdoulaye Faye was given a yellow card as he went into the dressing home at the end of the half for some verbals with Diouf.[LNB] The teams will be back out onto the field shortly and Blackburn will get the game under way. Stoke, in their traditional red and white stripes, will defend the goal to my right.[LNB] Blackburn scored three against Stoke last time they met in the league. Do you think they can replicate this scoreline? If so, a 3-0 away win is 40/1 with Sky Bet.[LNB] If you would like a bet before the second half gets underway, Stoke are favourites to come away with all three points at 9/5 with Sky Bet. Blackburn are 12/5 to win and a draw is 6/5.[LNB] What do you think? Get in touch and have your say.[LNB] Kellie from Sheffield also emailed in to say: "As a Stoke fan I can see today is going to be a tough game. Blackburn are a decent side but we have s decent home record and I think we can pull it together and win 2-1."[LNB] A few comments that came in during the first half that I never got to.... Ralph said: "My old Stokie nervousness is coming back as we try to get the last few points to stay up. All these 6 pointers are exhausting and I see us losing this one to a strong team in the wrong place. I've gone for 1-3 to Blackburn."[LNB]45+2 The referee blows his whistle for half time and 0-0 at the break is probably a fair reflection of the game. A few players are getting frustrated at not being given decisions - Fuller the latest.[LNB]45+2 Lots of action, few shots on goal, but an entertaining first half drawing to a close here.[LNB]45+1 There will be two minutes of injury time.[LNB]45 Diouf tries to take a lofted Pedersen pass over this shoulder first time, but his touch is heavy and the ball runs out for a goal kick.[LNB]45 Wilkinson is back to his feet, but he is doubled over and is in a lot of pain. Only a few minutes to half time though, so I doubt there will be any changes. Drop ball.[LNB]44 Wilkinson and Pedersen clash on the edge of the centre circle. Pedersen is holding his knee and comes up limping and it looked like Wilkinson took a knee to the lower back.[LNB]43 Delap tries his luck with another long throw-in, but Robinson commands his area so well and he came out to catch it and immediately relieve the pressure on his side. Good goalkeeping.[LNB]41 Pedersen receives the ball but lacks options. He hits it long towards McCarthy, but that is not the striker's strength and the move comes to nothing.[LNB]40 McCarthy is in a gret position with the ball at his feet 20 yareds from goal in the centre of the pitch. But the final ball is poor again. At the other end, Fuller trips over the leg of Samba and another penalty shout is waved off. He went down too easily for my liking, although there was contact.[LNB]38 Coming up to the final five minutes and it's pretty even.[LNB]37 Diouf takes a Rovers corner kick and it goes all the way out of play on the other side of the pitch of the head of Rory Delap who takes a bang in the back of the head. Pedersen to take the throw.[LNB]35 Beattie finds Fuller on a full-stretch lunge and the ball gets whipped in from the right. There's nobody else forward though and it's easy for Rovers to clear.[LNB]35 Shawcross and Ooijer have a little bit of afters after they wrestled each other to the ground and Howard Webb has a word with both men as well as Rover's captain Nelsen.[LNB]34 Shawcross comes forward for this Stoke throw-in. It's flat and fast and Robinson claims it at the second attempt.[LNB]33 Stoke have another throw-in, about 30 yards from goal. This is in range for Delap and again Rovers have to rely on Nelsen to get the ball away.[LNB]32 Samba can not latch on to Pedersen's long throw-in and it is hooked away to safety. Stoke win a throw of their own on this near side and work the line towards the centre circle.[LNB]31 Diouf chips in a ball towards the near post but Sorensen takes it out of the air with ease and Diouf wants to know why nobody attacked the ball.[LNB]30 Diouf edges away from Higginbotham who brings him down on the Rovers left wing about 12 yards from goal. He receives a booking for his efforts. The game continued and Rovers won a corner-kick, but with Diouf having to wait to come back on to the pitch, the delivery from Pedersen was a waste.[LNB]28 The game has been lively and up-tempo and full of endeavour, as you could maybe expect from this contest.[LNB]27 Wilkinson wins his team a throw-in deep inside his own half, under pressure from Pedersen near the corner flag. He coped with the situation calmly.[LNB]26 Higginbotham finds himself completely unmarked from seven yards out but he heads wide of Robinson's right-hand post. Good chance though.[LNB]25 Fuller turns away from Samba and uses his strength to muscle into the area. Nelsen gets in the way again and it is another Stoke corner.[LNB]23 Higginbotham finds Etherington down the Stoke left flank. The ball aimed at Fuller on the edge of the six yard box is headed clear. The second ball comes into the crowded area and Beattie goes down under minimal pressure from Ooijer, but Webb waves the challenge away.[LNB]21 Delap drives a flat throw into the Rovers box from about six yards out. Nelsen heads it behind for a corner, but Lawrence's delivery lacks accuracy and Blackburn are able to clear their lines. Stoke have had the better of the first 20 minutes here.[LNB]20 There's a coming together here between Warnock and Lawrence and Stoke will be awarded the free-kick. Nothing malicious involved, but Warnock was slightly late in his leap.[LNB]19 Fuller flicks the ball on towars the run of Beattie, but he can not take it in his stride. At the other end, Pedersen and Nelsen have shots on goal - the first is blocked 16 yards from goal; the latter sails well wide.[LNB]17 Rovers have their first corner but Diouf's set piece never comes in to play and it lands on the roof of the net, much to the delight of the home fans.[LNB]16 Abdoulaye Faye almost scores a catastrophic own goal. It is a nothing through ball over the top from inside the Rovers half and Faye went to head it back to his keeper, but he gets too much on it and Sorensen has to be at full stretch to stop it looping over his head.[LNB]14 Etherington tries to find Delap on the overlap, but his touch is heavy and he over-runs the ball inside the centre circle.[LNB]13 Delap has had two long throws from this near side and bnow he trots over to the Stoke left wing to launch one it. Ooijer heads the ball clear and Sorensen comes out of his box to knock in back into the visitors' half.[LNB]11 Lawrence is convinced he has won a corner kick, but it will be a goal kick for the visitors. Robinson launches it up field, but the whistle blows for a push in the back.[LNB]9 Given is tackled late by Lawrence just in front of the referee's assistant on the side closest to us. Lawrence comes off worse though.[LNB]7 Stoke win a free-kick down the left hand wing, a few yards inside the Rovers half. It's away by Nelsen and the ball will come off Lawrence and out for a Blackburn throw.[LNB]5 Pedersen has a sight of goal, but his drives his volley wildly over the crossbar much to the delight of the home fans.[LNB]4 Blackburn win a free-kick wide on the right and Pedersen swings the ball in, but Faye is alert to clear the danger.[LNB]3 Blackburn have finally enjoyed a bit of possesion after a bright, energetic start from the home side.[LNB]2 Another chance for Stoke as Fuller breaks down the right and fires over a cross which Etherington just fails to get on the end of.[LNB]2 Early chance for Stoke as Whelan's shot is diverted over the crossbar by James Beattie. Lucky escape for Blackburn.[LNB]1 Kick-off at a sunny Britannia Stadium.[LNB] For those of you who enjoy a bat, Stoke are 5/4 to win with Sky Bet while Blackburn are 9/4. A draw is 6/5.[LNB] Striker Benni McCarthy returns to Blackburn's starting line-up for their crucial Barclays Premier League clash at Stoke.[LNB]The South Africa international sat out last weekend's 4-0 defeat at Liverpool but was one of three changes against their fellow relegation rivals.[LNB]Wingers Morten Gamst Pedersen (calf) and El-Hadji Diouf (throat infection) are also back after their absence at Anfield, with David Dunn dropping to the bench and Tugay and Keith Treacy missing out altogether.[LNB]Stoke manager Tony Pulis names the same starting line-up which drew 1-1 with Newcastle last weekend, with striker James Beattie fit to play despite the 12 stitches required in a head wound sustained against the Magpies.[LNB] What do you think of the today's team news? What are your predictions? Send me your thoughts and I'll post the best here before kick-off. Email ashley.marshall@bskyb.com[LNB]Blackburn: Robinson, Ooijer, Samba, Nelsen, Givet, Diouf, Andrews, Mokoena, Warnock, Pedersen, McCarthy. Subs: Bunn, Dunn, Grella, Khizanishvili, Villanueva, Olsson, Doran.[LNB]Referee: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire)[LNB]Stoke: Sorensen, Wilkinson, Abdoulaye Faye, Shawcross, Higginbotham, Lawrence, Whelan, Delap, Etherington, Beattie, Fuller. Subs: Simonsen, Olofinjana, Cresswell, Pugh, Kelly, Camara, Sonko.[LNB] Here are the teams:[LNB] Good afternoon and welcome to today's live commentary from the Barclays Premier League clash between Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers from the Britannia Stadium.[LNB]
