This Week's Opposition: Blackburn Rovers

Jake Smith provides detail regarding Pompey's next Championship opponent.

Matchday 6 for Pompey and the final before the first international break of the campaign sees us back at Fratton Park for the visit of Blackburn Rovers.

MANAGER

Experienced Football League boss Tony Mowbray returned to the helm of Blackburn in the summer, 4 years after his departure in 2022 following a 5-year spell at Ewood Park.

The 62-year-old was the man in the dugout when the club were promoted to the Championship in 2018 following his first full season in charge.

Mowbray has a managerial career spanning all the way back to 2002 when he became caretaker briefly at Ipswich Town - He has since gone on to manage 9 other clubs including Blackburn of course, as well as West Bromwich Albion, Celtic and Middlesbrough, racking up almost 900 games as a gaffer.

ONE TO WATCH

Egyptian midfielder Sam Morsy is our ‘One To Watch’ this weekend.

The 35-year-old joined the club in the summer as a free agent after leaving Bristol City, with whom he spent the back end of last term with.

TOP SCORER

Icelandic forward Andri Gudjohnsen leads the way in the league for Blackburn with 3 goals and  1 assist. The Rovers number 9 - scored in the side’s previous game against Millwall at Ewood Park.

Forward Oladapo Afolayan also has 3 this season but with only 2 coming in the league - the other a Carabao Cup strike against Sheffield United in a 2-1 home defeat in late August.

CURRENT FORM

Tony Mowbray’s side occupy 16th in the table after picking up 8 points from their opening 7 games - They are 2 places and 1 point ahead of Pompey in 18th but having played 1 more match.

Rovers went unbeaten in their opening 2 games but then went on a run of 5 without victory across all competitions in a 2-week period between August 25th and September 8th.

They did, however, win their most recent game 3-1 against Millwall, a side many expected to be fighting for automatics following a close shave with promotion last term.

Can the Blues head into the international break with a victory under their belts?

Find out and catch all of the unmissable action this Saturday (September 19th) from 2pm on Express FM as Jake Smith, Graham Butterworth and Danny Thompson present the latest edition of Pompey Live!

Kick-off: 3pm!