Blackburn Rovers Football Club News

• Nickname:Rovers
• Founded:1875
• Manager:Steve Kean

• Ground:Ewood Park
• Capacity:31,367

Preview: Blackburn v Birmingham

23 Mar 2010 - 14:06:14

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Little more than pride will be at stake at Ewood Park when 12th-placed Blackburn Rovers face a Birmingham City team that are three places and nine points above them in the table with eight games of the season remaining.

However, both sets of fans will be pleased that at such an early stage in the season any relegation fears have already been banished.

Rovers' home form has been the primary reason for their mid-table position with Sunday's impressive 1-1 draw against Chelsea meaning they have now secured 29 of their 35 points this season at Ewood Park.

Since Christmas, Blackburn have been unbeaten in six home matches, taking 14 points from a possible 18 in the process and are now 11 clear of the bottom three.

Birmingham's slender Europa League hopes were virtually ended by Saturday's 3-1 loss at Sunderland but Alex McLeish will be keen that their excellent season does not peter out in the last two months.

Cameron Jerome is the man City will look to for goals on Wednesday as he has netted five times in his last three league appearances against Rovers, including a brace in each of the last two games. He has also scored eight of their last 15 goals this term.
A stalemate is unlikely as only one of the 110 matches in all competitions between the two sides has ended goalless while Birmingham have a desperately poor recent record at Blackburn, failing to win on any of their last 16 visits to Ewood Park in a sequence stretching back to January 1968.

Rovers have lost just one of their last 14 games at home in the Premier League while four of Birmingham's last five away games have ended in defeat.

Lee Carsley (ankle) is expected to be Birmingham's only absentee while Rovers currently have Paul Robinson (calf), Lars Jacobsen (groin) and Ryan Nelsen (knee) all sidelined.