Blackburn Rovers

Image source, Getty Images

Blackburn Rovers head coach Michael O'Neill says he was thrilled with his team's response in coming from behind to win at promotion-chasing Millwall.

Trailing 1-0 with 10 minutes to go, Mathias Jorgensen scored twice to turn it around and claim a valuable first win in five games as Rovers moved up to 19th and three points clear of the drop zone.

And having only claimed one point from matches against relegation rivals in the last few days in drawing with Portsmouth and losing at Oxford United, Blackburn turned their week around.

"It's been a challenging week," O'Neill told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"We knew the significance of it with playing Portsmouth and then Oxford away and having to come here, which we knew would be difficult.

"The early part didn't go as we'd have planned but the reaction was very good.

"A big commitment from the players - we kept them down (south) between the games and the performance was excellent.

"Maybe I was a little harsh on them on Wednesday, we weren't as poor as I thought.

"It's often difficult in the Championship when you go behind, it's difficult to play against teams. We learned that lesson, we went behind today and we showed real character and real quality to win the game."

Millwall could move into the automatic promotion spots when they welcome Blackburn Rovers on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Should Middlesbrough fail to win Bristol City in the lunchtime kick-off, the Lions could overtake their promotion rivals if they extend their winning streak to a fifth consecutive league game.

But Rovers also have a lot on the line, with just one point keeping them safe from the bottom three as things stand and in real danger of dropping back into the relegation zone.

• Millwall have won two of their last 20 league games against Blackburn Rovers (D6 L12), 1-0 home wins in 2019-20 and 2024-25.

• Blackburn have won 16 points in their last seven league games against Millwall (W5 D1 L1), winning each of their last two against the Lions.

• Millwall have lost four of their last six league games when starting the day 20+ points ahead of their opponents in the table (W2), losing 3-1 to Portsmouth most recently in February despite a 20-point pre-match advantage.

• Blackburn have won five of their last eight away league games in London (L3), winning 3-1 at QPR in their most recent capital visit.

• Mihalio Ivanovic has netted in two of his three Championship appearances against Blackburn, including the winner in a 1-0 win at the Den last season.

Andy Bayes
BBC Radio Lancashire sports editor

Image source, Getty Images

After the latest round of Championship games, it would now be a major surprise if the two clubs to join Sheffield Wednesday in League One next season are not from the five sides currently immediately above them.

Back-to-back wins followed Michael O'Neill's appointment as Blackburn head coach but one draw and three defeats in their past four games has left Rovers a point above the trap door.

His team now have nine games to salvage their second-tier status.

They were 90 seconds or so away from four straight defeats, had Hayden Carter's late header against Portsmouth not earned them a point last Saturday.

Make no mistake, they are in trouble – big trouble.

The performance against Oxford did not reflect a team fighting for their lives.

It was nowhere near the level required for the Championship, particularly in the first half. Chants of "you're not fit to wear the shirt" came from the away supporters.

A lack of leadership on the pitch, a formation that did not look particularly in sync from one side to the other, some defensive frailties and the absence of any real threat in the front line.

Two attempts on target, following one attempt on target on Saturday, is a far cry from O'Neill's first match in charge when they scored three on the road at QPR.

I said when Rovers made their managerial change that if they kept their go-to players fit, I thought they had enough quality to stay up.

The reality is they haven't kept them fit. And the proof has been in the pudding since they went out of the team.

From the 20-man squad that went to Loftus Road on Valentine's Day, they were without Sondre Tronstad, Lewis Miller, Andri Gudjohnsen, Connor O'Riordan and Kristi Montgomery at Oxford.

The loss of Tronstad is enormous and felt in every game. Miller is certainly someone you would look at in your dressing room and back to roll his sleeves up and give you absolutely everything.

Gudjohnsen, prior to his pre-Christmas injury, was a striker in form. Two of those three mentioned above have had season-ending surgeries, with Gudjohnsen soon to follow suit.

The squad is boosted by the return to fitness of captain Todd Cantwell and long-serving Scott Wharton. For me, both are in the best XI O'Neill has got.

It's a time for everyone to stand up and be counted. For every player to realise what relegation will mean for a club like Blackburn Rovers.

For those who have been around the block a few times, it is up to them to make the rest aware of the situation and how serious it is.

The remaining nine games include meetings with the top three and home matches against two of the five they are up against in the battle to survive.

Strap yourselves in; this will be a bumpy ride.

Image source, Getty Images

Blackburn Rovers boss Michael O'Neill said that their first half performance was to blame for their loss to Oxford United.

Jamie Donley scored the game's only goal as Rovers registered a fourth Championship game without a win.

O'Neill's side are now just one point above the relegation zone with nine league games remaining this season.

"I'm disappointed with the result and performance, particularly in the first half," he told BBC Radio Lancashire., external

"In the second we were much more improved, but we were poor in the first half and that's where we lost the game.

"Overall it doesn't really matter what system you play when you can't take care of the ball, we gave it away cheaply and that cost us tonight.

"I think we could have been stronger defensively too, we've got nine games left and have to maximise what we can take in those games.

"The squad's extremely stretched and it's unlikely we'll get any of the injured players back before the international break so that will be a challenge."

Blackburn Rovers manager Michael O'Neill has been speaking to the media before their trip to Oxford United on Wednesday (19:45 GMT).

Here are the main talking points:

• Blackburn continue to be hit with injury woes as striker Andri Gudjohnsen was spotted after the 1-1 draw with Portsmouth wearing a boot. "He damaged his ankle, he has had a scan. He will see a specialist in the next 24 hours and until then we don't know the full extent of the damage." O'Neill told BBC Radio Lancashire.

• Defender Connor O'Riordan is also injured: "Connor has a thigh injury just picked up in training," O'Neill confirmed. "You want your squad as fit and healthy as possible but unfortunately I think Connor has a four to six week recovery timeframe." Midfielder Kristi Montgomery is a doubt with a hamstring issue.

• O'Neill is still searching for his best XI as players continue to return from injury that are yet to play for him. "Some of the lads coming back in are an unknown quantity to me, like Sidnei Tavares for example."

• Despite using a back four in the 3-1 win at Queens Park Rangers, O'Neill believes using a three-man defence with wing-backs suits his available squad better. "You have to try and shape whatever system you play around the players you have available."

• There is some "anxiety" surrounding the run-in but O'Neill sees every one of the remaining 10 games as "an opportunity to put some distance between ourselves and the teams beneath us." Each game is a chance "to step further away from the relegation zone."

• On their next opponents Oxford United, O'Neill said: "we expect a very tough game. Having had long periods of not winning they've recently picked up a couple of wins so it will be tough. They're a threat from set pieces and the players are aware of that."

Listen to more from Michael O'Neill and all things Blackburn Rovers on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Opta

A win for Oxford United on Wednesday (19:45 GMT) would make it three consecutive league victories for the first time since January 2025.

Blackburn Rovers will arrive at The Kassam Stadium having won more points away from Lancashire (21) than at Ewood Park (18).

• Oxford have won just one of their past eight league games against Blackburn (D3 L4), though it was in this exact fixture last season (1-0).

• Blackburn have won three of their five league meetings with Oxford this century, but are winless in the last two (D1 L1).

• Following their 2-1 victory against West Brom, Oxford are looking to win consecutive home league games for the first time since March/April 2025.

• Blackburn have won just one of their past nine away league games (D3 L5), beating QPR 3-1 last month.

• Coming into this round of matches, only bottom side Sheffield Wednesday (11) have failed to score in more different Championship home games than Oxford (8) this season.

Andy Bayes
BBC Radio Lancashire, sport editor

Image source, Shutterstock

This wasn't a game for the neutral to sit down with a cup of tea and enjoy two Championship teams going head to head.

It felt very much like a game that both teams were desperate not to lose.

With six minutes of normal time to play, it looked highly likely that both head coaches could have shaken hands and taken a point each. The sign of a goal coming was pretty non existent.

Both goalkeepers were probably shivering in the East Lancashire breeze.

Then came the opener. Blackburn sloppily conceded possession, resulting in a free-kick.

As is so often the case this season at all levels, the initial ball was dealt with but the concentration level of the defending team was left wanting for the second phase.

Connor Ogilvie smashed in his first goal in 13 months, courtesy of a deflection, and it very much looked like maximum points were heading to the south coast.

For Rovers, it was a case of more home disappointment. They were going head-on into their 10th league defeat at Ewood Park this season.

To their credit, for the second time in three home games under new boss Michael O'Neill, they scored in stoppage time.

• Carter strikes late as Blackburn hold Portsmouth

It was a Yuki Ohashi header against Preston North End. This time it was left to Hayden Carter to break the hearts of the Pompey fans who took him to their hearts during a successful loan in 2022.

Goals in back-to-back games for Carter, whose return has been one of the more welcome stories of the season.

The game could have been different had Ohashi found the net early on after being picked out by Ryoya Morishita, but he missed the target. Ohashi and Andri Gudjohnsen have both spurned huge chances in the last two games.

For a team that doesn't carve out chance after chance, being clinical is all important.

After the 3pm kick-offs, Oxford moved back into the bottom three despite being the only team to win in the bottom six.

The table will look different again before Rovers play at Oxford on Wednesday night, with Leicester and Portsmouth both at home on Tuesday night.

O'Neill told me that he felt the battle to stay up could go the distance, right to the final day.

With 10 games to go, it's the toughest of calls to say who will join Sheffield Wednesday in League One next season.

From a Rovers point of view, they can't afford their injury list to grow more names. It's highly debatable that the squad is strong enough if they do.

"If you can't win a game, don't lose it, and that's exactly what we managed to do."

That was the sentiment of Blackburn boss Michael O'Neill, who watched his side snatch a late draw against fellow Championship strugglers Portsmouth in a tight game at Edwood Park.

O'Neill told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"The game probably tells you where both teams are, the seasons they have had, and what is at stake.

"We have to be pleased, given we were behind going into stoppage time. I thought we showed good character to keep going. We had the better chances, but we were a bit tense and nervous at times.

"We limited them to very little but we didn't take care of the ball enough to take control of the game. But if you can't win the game the key is not to lose it and we managed not to do that.

"We are disappointed not have had a penalty awarded to us at 0-0, too, and if he [Yuki Ohashi] makes good contact in the first few minutes it would have been a different situation.

"In terms of attitude the lads gave everything they should. The subs gave us energy when they came on, too."

Blackburn Rovers boss Michael O'Neill has labelled midfielder Sondre Tronstad's season ending injury as a "devastating blow" in their fight against relegation.

The 30-year-old was taken off at half-time during the side's defeat to Bristol City with an anterior cruciate ligament injury and has since undergone reconstructive surgery.

"We were trying to be optimistic, trying to be hopeful, but in the first half against Bristol City you could tell he wasn't himself," O'Neill told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"The outcome was the worst we feared."

Tronstad had initially suffered a knee problem during their game against Queens Park Rangers on 14 February, but O'Neill does not believe the additional two games against Preston North End and Bristol City caused any further damage.

"When he trained on the Monday, he felt fine," he added.

"If he had walked off the pitch against QPR at that moment when he had done the injury, I don't believe he would have been fit.

"He would have gone through the process, which would have been a scan, and we would have found the same level of damage."

O'Neill is "optimistic", however, that defender Hayden Carter will be available for the game against relegation rivals Portsmouth on Saturday lunchtime (12:30 GMT) despite going off in the second half against the Robins.

Carter has only played six games since his return from a long-term calf injury that caused him to miss much of the season.

Defender Scott Wharton is also available but it would be "unrealistic" for him to play many minutes, according to O'Neill, and midfielder Sidnei Tavares is back in training.

Forward Augustus Kargbo has suffered a setback while playing with the Under-21 side and will not be available until after the international break.

Listen to the full pre-match interview on BBC Sounds

Listen to more Blackburn Rovers content on BBC Sounds

Image source, Opta

There's a big game in the battle near the bottom of the Championship on Saturday (12:30 GMT) as Portsmouth head to Ewood Park to play Blackburn.

Rovers are 20th, two places and four points clear of the relegation zone, but a place and a point below Pompey, who also have a game in hand.

After back-to-back wins, Blackburn have lost their past two games, at home to Bristol City and at Derby last Saturday, having led in both games.

Blues have also followed two wins with two defeats, going down at Wrexham before being edged-out at home to Hull City on Saturday.

• Blackburn have won eight of their past 10 home league games against Portsmouth (L2), winning the past four in a row since a 1-0 defeat in the Premier League in September 2007.

• Portsmouth are looking to complete their first league double over Blackburn Rovers since the 1969-70 campaign.

• Blackburn Rovers haven't won any of their past 10 league games in the month of March (D4 L6) since a 2-1 win over Reading back in March 2023.

• This game will be John Mousinho's 150th league game in charge of Portsmouth – he's the 11th manager to reach that landmark, with only two of the previous 10 winning their 150th game in charge: Bob Jackson in December 1950 and Jim Smith in October 1994.

• No side has dropped more points from winning positions in the Championship this season than Blackburn Rovers (22, level with Wrexham), losing 3-1 from 1-0 up last time out against Derby.

Image source, Shutterstock

Earlier we asked what you make of the news that, from next season, the Championship play-offs will be expanded to include the teams finishing seventh and eighth?

It was announced on Thursday morning that EFL clubs voted in favour of expanding the play-offs from four to six teams.

Here's a selection of your comments...

Josh, Derby: I don't believe this is necessary. I do think that the play-off format should be aligned throughout the top five leagues, but expanding isn't needed. Better distribution of the monies involved and establishing a clear matchday structure to balance various men's and women's leagues would be a better use of everyone's time. This strikes me undue American influence.

Callum, Dartford: I think it's a good thing so teams can push for promotion that thought they wouldn't get near the play-offs.

Cato, Sheffield: If we adopted it to this season, it means that eighth-placed Derby (on 51 points) have about as much a chance of going up as third-placed Millwall (on 63 points). Plus, to accommodate the extra games, would they extend the season into June? I don't like the idea of it at all, and I hope it's short-lived.

Steve, London: Another example of football being ruined, week by week. Don't you dare think about implementing VAR too.

Mark, Stafford: As a Stoke fan, I think it's good news. The season has come to a grinding halt due to being decimated by injuries. Add to that, the quality of what is coming down from the Premier League, it would mean upsets can happen and still allow teams in that mid-table race to dream of greater heights!

Richard, Stansted: Absolutely ridiculous. What is the point of a league format if you are going to make it a bigger lottery to include even more teams at the end of the season? It also brings teams that are even less ready to actually be in the Premier League into scope. But mostly it's the undermining of the league format which makes no sense. I'm a Derby fan - and we look like we would have a chance of benefiting from this if it were in place this season.

Andy, Nuneaton: Anything that expands the opportunities for those outside of the parachute teams is a good thing. We need to get away from this elite view of the Premier League. If it was up to them, they'd stop automatic promotion and relegation and have a system like Rugby Union, where it's based on meeting certain criteria. The eighth-placed club in the Championship getting to the PL? Bring it on!

Ron, Hayling: Money, Money, Money. Players complain about the amount of games they play with the league games and cup competitions so the intention is to play even more at the end of the season. Owners will make some money but that's all that matters!

Barry, Dartford: Yes it's a fantastic for everyone, all the small teams as well as the big boys, to have something to play for. It will give the end of the season something to look forward to.

Benjamin, Poole: I'm a Charlton fan, so it's unlikely we'll come 8th in the Championship any time soon, however, this is ridiculous. More pandering to Americans to make it more likely they'll make money, which is the only thing they care about. Sporting integrity out of the window again. Shame as I felt the Championship was the last bastion of quality and integrity combined. Game has gone.

Broughton, Derby: Absolute ridiculous, put it back to the old days of three straight up, no play-offs. If you don't make top-three you don't deserve to go up.

Julian, London: The worst decision from a footballing point of view ever! The National League teams have been trying to change their system to be like the current EFL system so it seems a very strange decision for the EFL to take. You can finish 8th after 46 games and still get promoted - sporting integrity has been totally lost with this decision. Money over integrity every time!

Image source, PA Media

Blackburn boss Michael O'Neill claims they must become more durable after they lost their second successive game despite taking the lead.

Rovers faded badly in the second half at Derby after leading at the interval to lose 3-1, although they still remain four points and a place above the Championship drop zone.

O'Neill, who has won two and lost two of his first four games, told BBC Radio Lancashire: "We played very well in the first half, I thought.

"We dealt with the long balls, picked up a lot of second balls and we played some really good football in the first half. We went in one-nil ahead and I think we were deserving of that.

"Second half, the squad isn't strong, we don't have depth on our squad. And the team that finishes the game is not as strong as the team that starts the game. That's with the injuries we have, the players that we have missing.

"We have players coming in, who haven't played for a while, and we have to manage them through the game, so that's a challenge.

"But we need to develop durability, both individually and collectively. I think as a team, we need to be more durable and we weren't able to do that in the second half."

Andy Bayes
BBC Radio Lancashire Sports Editor

Image source, Getty Images

If the last two matches are anything to go by, it just shows that Michael O'Neill does not possess a magic wand to, in the blink of an eye, solve Blackburn Rovers' serious issues this season.

He will have learned an awful lot so far in his four games. The euphoria of back-to-back wins followed by back-to-back defeats. Granted, six points out of 12 is clearly better than if he had managed four draws so far and remained unbeaten.

At this point of the season, with 11 games to go, you are where you are based on a sizeable body of work. If you have lost pretty much half of your matches to this point, then trouble cannot be far away.

One of O'Neill's biggest headaches is a mounting list of injuries. In his four games so far, he's lost Lewis Miller for the best part of a year with a ruptured Achilles, Sondre Tronstad with a knee problem serious enough to see a surgeon and, in the second half at Derby, Hayden Carter signalled to the bench that his hamstring was tight.

An assessment will be required on Carter, particularly with his history of missing matches. These are three players in the squad you would want available when the battle lines are drawn.

The turning point at Pride Park was very clear. One up at half-time through Carter's header, Andri Gudjohnsen, with time and space in the Derby penalty area, a couple of minutes into the second half, had to do better than fire wide of the keeper's near post.

It was costly in that it should have given Rovers breathing space at 2-0 and, apart from a tame effort from Moussa Baradji, it was the final time Blackburn laid a glove on Derby.

They were no longer at the races and were undone with the help of two ex-players.

Ben Brereton-Diaz was afforded far too much time and space to make it 1-1 and Sam Szmodics struck the post, capitalising on a Eiran Cashin error, with the ball falling for Matt Clarke to make it 2-1 from close range.

Derby's third was horrible to watch as two subs were culpable. A blind pass from Taylor Gardner-Hickman lost possession, Kristi Montgomery lost two individual battles in midfield and, three passes later, Rhian Brewster had settled it with a header.

I asked O'Neill after the match if this sort of performance was a stark reminder of why Rovers find themselves where they are.

His straight-talking response was clear: "Oh, 100%."

I've said a number of times on BBC Radio Lancashire and in this column that I think Rovers will survive the drop if key players stay fit.

I consider those key players to be Balasz Toth, Ryan Alebiosu, Carter, Cashin, Tronstad, Ryoya Morishita and Gudjohnsen. Two of those could be out of the equation for a period of time now.

Adam Forshaw stepped up to play the Tronstad role at Derby and was excellent but was removed on 56 minutes with the score at 1-1. The midfield was never the same without him, but whether he can play the remainder of the games from start to finish is possibly asking too much.

O'Neill was clear in his thoughts on the strength of the squad as it stands.

"Second half, the squad isn't strong; we don't have depth in our squad," he said. "And the team that finishes the game is not as strong as the team that starts the game. That's with the injuries we have and the players that we have missing.

"We have players coming in who haven't played for a while, and we have to manage them through the game, so that's a challenge.

"But we need to develop durability, both individually and collectively. I think as a team, we need to be more durable, and we weren't able to do that in the second half."

The next two games could be season-defining. Portsmouth at home, followed by Oxford away. Losing both right now feels unthinkable.

Image source, Coventry City FC

You might not hear the old terrace refrain of 'you're not fit to wear the shirt' as often as you used to, but it still has a better ring than 'the shirt's not fit for you to wear'.

Championship leaders Coventry City launched a new collection on Friday, proudly taking inspiration from a kit widely dubbed the 'Worst of All Time'.

A take on the club's infamous brown change strip worn away from Highfield Road from 1978 to 1981, the modern reinvention features what the club calls "a deeper chocolate plum colour with sky blue elements".

Many would suggest it sounds tastier than it looks.

But it's got us thinking... what are actually the worst EFL kits of all time? Let us know which of your club's shirts is hiding in the back of the wardrobe, or even if they were too ugly for you to even part money for them.

We'll collate a list of the biggest eyesores and will give you the chance to vote on the ghastliest of all next week.

Click here to let us know your suggestion, and you can even attach a picture if you really want to convey the horror.

Blackburn Rovers will aim to further the gap between themselves and the bottom three as they head to Derby County on Saturday (12:30 GMT).

Rovers will not have to worry about re-entering the relegation zone this weekend with a four point lead on 22nd place Leicester City, however a second consecutive loss could see them back in the mix.

While Derby will be hoping to get back into the play-off race, with two successive losses sending them six points adrift of sixth placed Wrexham.

• Derby are looking to complete their first league double over Blackburn since 2014-15, while they're looking to win three in a row against Rovers for the first time since December 2001.

• Blackburn have lost their last two league games against Derby, more than they had in their previous 11 against the Rams (W9 D1 L1).

• Derby have scored at least once in each of their last 14 home league games, though they've gone on to win just five of these (D5 L4).

• Blackburn won 3-1 at QPR in their last away league game, ending a seven game winless run on the road (D3 L4).

• Since joining the club in January, Mathias Jorgensen has scored three of Blackburn's four away goals in the Championship.

Blackburn Rovers midfielder Sondre Tronstad is a major doubt for Saturday's Championship match at Derby County.

The 30-year-old was forced off at half-time of Tuesday's 2-1 home defeat by Bristol City.

"He came off with a bit of a knee injury so is a major doubt at the moment," Blackburn head coach Michael O'Neill told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"He's still being assessed but he couldn't get through the game and we'll see how he goes over the next 48 hours."

Tronstad has only missed five of Rovers' 34 league games this season and is in his third campaign with the club.

"He's an experienced player and in the short space of time I've been here I've been impressed by his character and level of play so we 'll have to see how he goes over the next period of time, but he's a loss to the squad," added O'Neill.

Blackburn are currently 20th in the Championship, four points clear of the relegation zone.

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