Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn manager Michael O'Neill says his side will try to spoil Coventry City's promotion party at Ewood Park on Friday night.

Rovers welcome the Sky Blues, who only need a point to secure promotion to the Premier League.

But Blackburn have plenty to play for themselves, with the gap to the Championship relegation zone just four points, having played one game more than Oxford in 22nd.

"I said to the players, if you're not invited to the party, it's a nice thing to try and spoil it and that's what we have to do," O'Neill told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"They'll bring a big away support, as did West Brom and Preston in particular, and Middlesbrough.

"But we've handled those games well. We're unbeaten in any of those games. We play a team that's top of the league but every game in this Championship is winnable."

O'Neill said the wins picked up by fellow relegation strugglers Portsmouth against Middlesbrough and Ipswich show "you have to stay in the game as long as possible when you're in the lower end of the table, particularly when you play the top sides".

"And the game can become more difficult for them," he added.

"That's our objective - to make the game difficult for Coventry, but obviously bring our own level of performance to the game as well."

When asked if one more win from their final three games would be enough for Blackburn to stay up, O'Neill said it would not put them mathematically safe but would "take a little bit of the pressure out of the situation".

"It would give us 51 points," he said. "It would put Oxford seven points behind us and it would put Leicester 10 points behind us, which is a lot to get in your last four games.

"But I'm not going to put any sort of target on it because we've got to make sure that we take whatever we can in the final three games, as many points as possible."

Coventry head to Ewood Park on Friday (20:00 BST) knowing a point will seal their place back in the top flight after 25 years away.

The Sky Blues head into the game on the back of successive draws after a stalemate against Sheffield Wednesday last time out.

Blackburn's five-match unbeaten run came to a halt with a 3-0 defeat at Southampton on Tuesday.

Michael O'Neill's side have a four-point cushion above the relegation zone in 20th and will be well aware they are not out of danger yet.

• Blackburn are winless in their past 10 league games against Coventry (D5 L5), since a 4-0 away victory in October 2020.

• Coventry have kept a clean sheet in their past five league games against Blackburn – they have never gone six without conceding against an opponent, while only against Chelsea have Rovers had a longer goalless run (seven between 2006 and 2009).

• Each of Blackburn's past three home league games have ended level, with the last two ending goalless. They last drew four consecutive home league matches in May 1988 (4).

• Accounting for three points per win all-time, Coventry's 85 points this season is already their most in a single league campaign in the club's history. The Sky Blues will be promoted to the Premier League if they avoid defeat in this match, last featuring in the top-flight in 2001.

• Haji Wright has scored 16 goals in the Championship this season, his joint-most in a single campaign for the club (also 16 in 2023-24). Only Viktor Gyokeres has netted more than 16 times in a Championship season for the Sky Blues (21 in 2022-23, 17 in 2021-22).

Earlier we asked what you thought of Blackburn's survival chances after wins for Oxford United and Portsmouth in recent days, coupled with Rovers' defeat at Southampton, left Michael O'Neill's men four points above the relegation zone with three games to go, one fewer than third-bottom Oxford.

Here are some of your responses:

Gerry: Nervous! 10 to 13 players missing through injury is a killer. Think we will need 52 or 53 points to be safe (Rovers currently have 48).

Chris: Should be fine, especially if West Brom get points deducted. *This is in relation to a reported EFL charge for financial matters - read more here.

Adam: Nervous, I said before the Norwich away game in Feb the 4 points dropped against Ipswich in the rearranged game and Wrexham away last kick of the game will haunt us, hope to be proved wrong.

David: I think we're doomed to be relegated on the last day at home to Leicester. It's been a really poor year. We've never got any momentum and suffered too many injuries. Is the training regime to blame for the injuries or are we just unlucky? Promotion push next year!

Neil: Far better under Michael O'Neill as manager, injuries to almost the entire first team hasn't helped. Still worried about relegation.

Tim: Three points ensures safety. However, I'm not seeing three. No more than a point vs Blades. Leicester will likely give us their best effort. Coventry will be Soton, all over again.

How are things, Rovers fans?

On Saturday afternoon a point at Stoke didn't look so bad, given Leicester's defeat and a home draw for Millwall, but Oxford United's win over Watford, and especially Portsmouth's last-gasp winner at Middlesbrough put a different complexion on the Championship basement battle.

Then matters got worse on the south coast on Tuesday night as Rovers were swept aside by in-form Southampton, while up the road Pompey were picking up another three points with a shock win over Ipswich.

As the dust settles on Wednesday, Rovers find themselves two places and four points above the relegation zone with three games remaining, but Michael O'Neill's men have a slightly worse goal difference and have played a game more than Oxford.

So how are you feeling? Does the visit of Champions-elect Coventry to Ewood Park on Friday night (20:00 BST) give you cause for optimism? With a trip to Sheffield United and a home game against second-bottom Leicester to follow on the final day, how many points do you think you need to stay up?

Click here to have your say.

Blackburn boss Michael O'Neill immediately turned his attention to Friday's vital home match against Championship leaders Coventry following the 3-0 defeat at Southampton.

Rovers are four points above the relegation zone so have some breathing space, largely because of a five-match unbeaten run prior to their trip to play the in-form Saints.

They have been beset by injuries and O'Neill made five changes for the second of his side's three matches in the space of six days.

"Listen, the game's gone - we just move on to Friday," O'Neill told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"We're getting through the games and the squad is very challenged in terms of numbers, with a lot of players who aren't with us at this minute in time.

"We could do with them being back for us. But the players we are putting out there are doing everything. Their attitude is first class, their commitment is first class, and that's all we can ask.

"We met a very good side in the best form. We knew it would be a tough game and it proved to be the case.

"In the second half we played well but the second goal just before half-time was a real killer."

Blackburn Rovers midfielder Adam Forshaw says 'he's loved it here' after enjoying a run of eight games in the team.

Rovers are four points above the relegation zone following their 1-1 draw with Stoke City on Saturday.

Forshaw scored his first goal of the season in that match and is looking forward to the trip to the south coast to play in-form Southampton tonight.

"I'm loving being back in the team, I'm going through a decent spell", he told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"I'd probably swap that just for the club to be in a good position. We've put ourselves in a decent position but obviously I want us to be safe as soon as possible.

"Ultimately we're in a better position than a few of the others, so as long as we win we will be alright."

The 34-year-old's contract is due to run out this summer, but he is not ruling out an extension at Ewood Park.

"I've loved it here, I think the people are great and I've settled really well.

"I've got a great relationship with everyone involved with the squad, I'd love to stay."

Listen to the full interview and more on BBC Sounds

Blackburn Rovers will have to manage their squad carefully this week with three games in six days, says head coach Michael O'Neill.

Rovers are four points clear of the Championship's relegation zone with four games remaining and visit promotion-chasing Southampton on Tuesday (20:00 BST).

Blackburn drew 1-1 at O'Neill's former club Stoke on Saturday and also host leaders Coventry on Friday.

"We're running low on bodies and players are churning out 90 minutes after 90 minutes and our options are limited with what we can do from the bench," O'Neill told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"We've got to get through this week in particular with three games in six days, two away games and the team who are top of the league coming to visit us on Friday, it's as tough a week as you can get in the Championship."

O'Neill took over as interim boss at Ewood Park in February and after three defeats in his first six games in charge, they are unbeaten in their last five.

"We've got to be mindful of Friday's game but also take care of the game in front of us and put a team on the pitch we believe can take something," he added.

Listen to more Blackburn Rovers interviews and content on BBC Sounds.

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Having stormed into the play-off places with 11 wins and three draws in the league since their last defeat in mid-January and also reached the FA Cup semi-finals, Southampton will look to extend their 17-match unbeaten run overall when they host Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday (20:00 BST).

A win would take Saints above Middlesbrough into fourth in the Championship on goal difference.

Blackburn have been languishing in the bottom half of the table for most of the season but can move seven points clear of the relegation zone with victory.

• Southampton have only lost one of their last 20 home league games against Blackburn Rovers (W14 D5), a 2-1 defeat in November 2001 in the Premier League.

• After their 2-1 win in October, Blackburn are looking to complete only their third ever league double over Southampton, previously achieving this in 1938-39 and 2001-02.

• Southampton are yet to lose a midweek league game under Tonda Eckert, winning eight and drawing two of 10 such games.

• Blackburn have only won two of their last 13 midweek league games (D3 L8), losing four of five in 2026 (W1).

• Southampton's Finn Azaz has been involved in six goals in his last eight Championship appearances (three goals, three assists). Across the last two seasons, Azaz has more goals and assists combined than any other player in the division (he has 42 goal contributions: 23 goals, 19 assists).

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Andy Bayes
BBC Radio Lancashire

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With four games to go in this gloriously unforgiving Championship season, there's no escaping it now - every kick matters.

Phone batteries everywhere are being tested by relentless score-checking and every table update raises an eyebrow.

This is the point of the campaign where tension creeps in quietly and then flatly refuses to leave. You can feel it in the stands, on the touchline, and in media areas up and down the country. Nobody's sleeping easily, least of all those with a vested interest in not joining Sheffield Wednesday in League One next season.

Form-wise, things remain delicately poised. Over the last eight league games, Oxford United have been among the division's pace-setters, West Brom have also kept their noses out front, while Rovers have quietly gathered 10 valuable points. Portsmouth's recent run hasn't exactly set the pulse racing, but their late winner at Middlesbrough served as a timely reminder that no lead is safe and no gap comfortable at this stage of the season.

For Rovers, on the face of it, a draw at Stoke was a pretty creditable result. Without their goalkeeper Balasz Toth making another wonder save, they'd have left with nothing.

They took the lead through Adam Forshaw in the first half and held on until the break, despite them being more wide open at the back than in previous games.

Once Stoke were level, it looked like a case of putting the point in the bag and heading home.

As is always the case in this league, the afternoon came with its usual dose of emotional whiplash. At various moments, the gap to the relegation places stretched reassuringly, only to shrink again as results elsewhere filtered through. The Championship does not do calm or predictable.

The reality is that a four-point cushion is fine - but not enough.

There's little time to dwell on it either. A tough trip to an in-form Southampton awaits before Friday night's meeting with Coventry, while Portsmouth face promotion-chasing Ipswich. Points are precious, goal difference may yet have a say, and calculators are once again being dusted off.

If your glass is half full, Michael O'Neill's side could be almost home and dry with positive results in both, but football fans in general always look for the worst-case scenario. How will it all look by the trip to Sheffield United on Wednesday next week?

So many times this season I've written and spoken about the absence of key players and the need to keep as many of the ones still standing available to go time and again, Forshaw being perhaps the biggest case in point. He's been worth his weight in gold of late.

At 34, he certainly doesn't represent the future, but it's a no-brainer to give him another year's contract whatever happens.

Forshaw signed as a squad player, an option if required. He was released last summer before being re-signed. You wonder where they would be now had he gone elsewhere.

Supporters have recognised that contribution. Forshaw is a player that every side needs in a scrap: dependable, calm, and rarely flustered, even when everyone else is.

As ever, this brilliantly entertaining league continues to deliver. Leicester City appear to have been written off by many. I'm not in that camp, and with the Foxes at Ewood Park on the final day, it could still be set up for one of the most tense afternoons that the old stadium has ever seen.

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Blackburn manager Michael O'Neill told BBC Radio Lancashire: "Every point is important at this point in time. We'll take it.

"Having been ahead, you hope you can protect your lead. We didn't do that and rode our luck before half-time, to be honest.

"It was a poor goal to lose but the reaction at 1-1 was good. We knew we'd be under pressure in the second half.

"As the game progressed we looked like we could create something but ultimately we'll take the point."

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The EFL has announced the fixtures for the 2026-27 season will be published at midday on Thursday, 25 June.

The first-round draws for the Carabao Cup and the Vertu Trophy will be made on the same day.

The new season will kick off on the weekend of August 7-9 with the first round of the Carabao Cup, and the opening fixtures in the Championship, League One and League Two will follow a week later on 14-16 August.

The first round of the Vertu Trophy will be played in the week commencing 21 September.

Blackburn Rovers defenders Connor O'Riordan and Eiran Cashin have both returned to training and could feature in Saturday's game against Stoke City (15:00 BST), boss Michael O'Neill has confirmed.

O'Riordan has played just five games for Rovers since returning from his loan spell with Doncaster Rovers in January after picking up a thigh injury, while Cashin missed the Easter weekend programme with a groin problem.

"They're potential options for the weekend," O'Neill told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"We will just see how things go for them over the next 24 hours and if there is no reaction and if they can train [on Friday] then they will come into contention."

Rovers will be bidding to increase the six-point cushion between themselves and the bottom three when they face O'Neill's former side at the weekend.

The Northern Irishman helped the Potters avoid relegation after taking over the club in November 2019, overseeing 143 games before his dismissal in August 2022.

"The club [Stoke] was not in a good moment because we had a lot of issues with financial fair play and how we would build the squad, which was challenging, but I think we left the club in a better place than we found it," O'Neill said.

"It was a great experience for me. It's a really good club, a lot of similarities between the clubs, a lot of good people at Stoke as there is here at Blackburn. It'll be nice to see some people again, but my only focus is try to get out of there with three points."

Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds

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Blackburn Rovers will look to pull further clear of the Championship relegation places when the visit Stoke City on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 15:00 BST).

Michael O'Neill's side were just one point above the drop zone after a 1-0 defeat to relegation rivals Oxford on 11 March but are unbeaten in the four games since (W2 D2) and are now six points ahead of Leicester in 22nd.

The Potters - who are 12 points behind the play-off spots and 13 clear of the drop - are on course for a mid-table finish.

• None of Stoke's previous 15 home league games against Blackburn have finished level, with the Potters winning nine and losing six.

• Blackburn have alternated between victory (3) and defeat (3) in their past six away league games against Stoke, losing 1-0 in this exact fixture last season.

• Stoke have won their past two home league games – the Potters haven't won three on the bounce at home since April/August 2024, while in the same season they last did so in August/September 2021 under current Blackburn boss Michael O'Neill.

• Blackburn Rovers have kept a clean sheet in their previous three league games, last going four without conceding in November/December 2024 (a run of five).

• Stoke City's Sorba Thomas is the only player with both 10 goals and 10 assists in the Championship this season. The last player to achieve that in a league season (excl. play-offs) under manager Mark Robins was current Arsenal striker Viktor Gyökeres in 2022-23 at Coventry (21 goals, 10 assists).

Blackburn Rovers have reported a loss of £10.4m loss during the 2024-25 season - but is it as bad as it seems?

The club has seen an uptick in their generated revenue but are spending 114% of those funds on player's wages and have also reported operating losses of £21.4m, with just £13m profited from player sales.

"The money coming into the club has gone up by 11% but the wages bill went up by the same amount and as a result of that they lost probably about £400,000 a week," football finance expert Kieran Maguire told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"If you take a look at the auditors' report that has specifically said that if the Venky's cannot extract money from India, we've got a big problem - but it looks like the recent pronouncements are a little more positive in that sense.

"I think the way to look at a football club owner, it's a bit like being the bank of mum and dad. It's this constantly willingness to provide the football club when the wages need paying every month."

The Championship's financial crisis has been attracting attention after Portsmouth owner Michael Eisner spoke out about it's unsustainability.

However, given the context within the second tier, Rovers' losses are comparably tame.

"By Championship standards, it wasn't that bad," Maguire added.

"I think that's indicative of just how inoculated we all have become to football as a loss making industry and you don't have to be Dizzee Rascal to know that the finances of the Championship in particular are best described as completely Bonkers."

Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds

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Andy Bayes
BBC Radio Lancashire sports editor

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Had four points from six been offered to Blackburn Rovers boss Michael O'Neill before the Easter programme, he would almost certainly have taken them.

Two clean sheets across the double-header underlined his pragmatic approach, making his side as hard to beat as possible with resources stretched to the limit.

O'Neill is painfully short of options and he knows it. The timely return of Scott Wharton to the starting eleven has helped, but the problem remains: he wants to operate with a back five, yet has only three centre-backs available, with four others sidelined.

Across the two matches - a 1-0 win at Birmingham and a 0-0 draw with West Brom - Rovers named the same starting eleven on both occasions, with six players completing 180 minutes. Part show of confidence, part necessity, it reflected where O'Neill's trust now lies. Since his arrival, he has been clear that this is not the time to wait for players to show potential; he needs those who can cope at the level immediately.

Rovers were the only team in the bottom six to take maximum points from either game. Results elsewhere could hardly have been kinder, prompting suggestions that the stalemate with the Baggies was an opportunity missed. On the evidence on show, it wasn't.

It was a meeting of two sides intent on not losing. Nobody wanted to blink.

Rovers keeper Balazs Toth again enhanced his growing reputation with an outstanding first-half save from Aune Heggebo, and that proved decisive in securing a point apiece.

A half-time switch to 4-4-2 brought greater attacking intent, but a largely unemployed Max O'Leary remained untested.

Adam Forshaw and Moussa Baradji deserve praise for their energy and industry across the two games. Forshaw has completed three games in a row now, having not done since his Plymouth days in November 2024.

Baradji has yet to fully win over all of the Rovers faithful, but these were among his most promising performances as he pushes for a permanent move in the summer. There is ability there undoubtedly, it's about channelling it in the right way.

O'Neill will now look to offer his players some respite ahead of Saturday's visit to Stoke, the start of four season-defining fixtures squeezed into eleven days.

Southampton's FA Cup progress, combined with a Friday night home game against Coventry, is far from ideal - but if results fall their way, Rovers could steal a march on those around them.

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Blackburn Rovers manager Michael O'Neill says he is pleased with the four points his side have gathered over the Easter period.

Rovers drew 0-0 with fellow strugglers West Bromwich Albion on Easter Monday, having had a 1-0 win at Birmingham City on Good Friday.

The results mean Rovers are six points above the relegation places with five games to play.

"Overall we have to be happy with four points from the two games," he told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"I didn't think we played as well today - there's always a worry after what the players put into the game on Friday that they can't get to the same level physically.

"I think first half we struggled a little bit with that, gave the ball away a little bit cheaply, and the goalkeeper makes an amazing save for us, which we needed at that point in time.

"But second half I thought we were a lot better. I thought we looked like the team more likely to win the game, but we didn't maybe make the best of some of the opportunities that we had.

"So overall we have to be pleased with a clean sheet. It keeps us six points clear of the teams that are in the bottom three and chalks another game off."