Blackburn Rovers vs Huddersfield Town. Sky Bet Championship.
Ewood ParkAttendance13,761.
Watch live on Sky Sports Football from midday on Saturday; Kick-off is at 12.30pm
Sunday 20 October 2019 08:02, UK
Blackburn face Huddersfield in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Football.
Blackburn defender Joe Grayson is unavailable as he faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a hamstring tear. Sam Hart (patella) is also sidelined and Dominic Samuel is struggling with a groin strain but Lewis Travis returns after recovering from a hamstring problem.
Fellow defender Ryan Nyambe is also expected to be back in the squad after missing out against QPR before the international break. Greg Cunningham is likely to be out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury, meaning Amari'i Bell is expected to fill in at left-back, while Darragh Lenihan also injured a knee at Loftus Road and is set to be out for a couple of months.
Huddersfield defender Terence Kongolo and forward Alex Pritchard are both fit to return. Kongolo has missed three matches with a calf problem and Pritchard five with a knee injury but both played in a behind-closed-doors friendly during the international break.
Forward Collin Quaner has had an operation on a hip problem which has restricted him to just two substitute appearances and will be out for a few more weeks. Steve Mounie, Juninho Bacuna, Florent Hadergjonaj and goalkeeper Kamil Grabara have all returned from international duty without any immediate issues.
Blackburn had a difficult period before the international break, picking up just a single point from their last three games to slip to 14th in the table. Last time out they were beaten 4-2 at QPR.
Huddersfield are on the up under Danny Cowley. After two defeats in his first two games in charge, the drew with Millwall and they have won their last two without conceding a goal, lifting them out of the relegation zone in the process.
Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray: "The last five games, we want to win every game, but we have won two, lost two and drawn one," Mowbray told the Lancashire Telegraph. "That's not where we want to be. We would have wanted four wins and a draw, but I don't think the team is too far away from those statistics and winning consistently.
"We have found a way to win away from home already this season, if anything we've let ourselves down against teams that we should be beating at home, Luton and Charlton, and if you add six points then we'd be in the play-off spots. But that's a 'what if?' and I'm not interested in them. We have to beat Huddersfield, Birmingham, teams I think we should be beating we have to go there and that's what we have to try and do."
Huddersfield boss Danny Cowley: "I think Blackburn are a really good team. Tony Mowbray has done a very good job there. He's developed a really good squad, good depth, good quality and good characters. I look at them and have been really impressed with what I've seen. They have the ability to go forward a bit quicker or they have the quality to be able to build as well.
"When they build, they have good players who can build and break the lines. We understand where Blackburn's strengths are, we respect them as opponents, and we anticipate that it'll be a really tough game on Saturday."
Is the crisis finally over at Huddersfield? Their last two games before the international break saw them secure back-to-back league victories for the first time since February 2018, and it appears the club may finally be shaking off the losing mentality that has besieged them in the past 12 months.
That is not to say they are out of trouble. Cowley's side start the weekend only outside of the relegation zone on goals scored, but a big upcoming week sees them welcome Middlesbrough and Barnsley to the John Smith's Stadium before the end of October, both eminently-winnable home games.
This is the first league meeting between Blackburn and Huddersfield since the 2016-17 campaign, when the sides shared two 1-1 draws in December 2016 in the Championship.
Five of the last six Championship meetings between Blackburn and Huddersfield have ended as draws, with the Terriers winning the other 2-0 in April 2016.
Huddersfield have won as many points in their last three league games (7 - W2 D1 L0) as they did in their previous 33 league games (W1 D4 L28).
Blackburn's Tony Mowbray and Huddersfield's Danny Cowley have met once previously, with Blackburn winning 4-1 against Cowley's Lincoln City in last season's League Cup.
Blackburn striker Adam Armstrong has scored three goals in his last four league games, as many as in his previous 31 matches combined.
Karlan Grant has scored 10 of Huddersfield's 21 league goals since making his debut in February 2019, seven more than any other player in that time.
Every time you think Blackburn might be in with a shout of the top six, they go on another poor little run which shows they probably aren't quite there.
The international break may have come at a bad time for Huddersfield, who were just building up a head of steam and start the weekend outside of the relegation zone after back-to-back wins. Draw here for me.
David Prutton predicts: 2-2 (14/1 with Sky Bet)
