Blackburn boss Steve Kean is taking heart from his relegation-threatened side's recent home performances after some near misses.
Rovers boss highlights close calls ahead of Wigan clash
Blackburn boss Steve Kean is taking heart from his relegation-threatened side's recent home performances after some near misses over the last few weeks.
Rovers - currently 19th in the Premier League, three points adrift of safety with two games left to play - face the prospect of going down after losing six of their last seven fixtures.
It is a bleak statistic which appears to offer little encouragement with regard to their prospects of beating the drop, but Kean feels there are several things within that sequence of matches that need taking into account.
The run began with a 2-1 defeat at Bolton on 24th March, a game which the Blackburn manager claims his side should have been awarded a penalty in.
Just over a week later, they were beaten 2-0 at Ewood Park by then-league leaders Manchester United thanks to goals in the 81st minute from Antonio Valencia and 86th from Ashley Young, and in the following home match against Liverpool, Rovers missed a penalty before Andy Carroll's stoppage-time header sealed a 3-2 win for the visitors.
Kean believes how close his side came to collecting points on those occasions and the fact that Blackburn have 10 in total from their last six fixtures at home means they should not be feeling too downbeat ahead of Monday's visit of Wigan.
Disappointing
Reflecting on the past seven matches - before which Rovers were five points clear of the drop zone - Kean said: "A big aspect was when we went to play Bolton.
"There was a big penalty shout in that game, so it was disappointing we never got that one.
"But I think the focus we are trying to put on it, which I think is very important at this stage of the season, is that in the last six home games we have picked up 10 points, scored 10 goals and in some of those games we narrowly missed out.
"We missed a penalty and then were beaten in the last minute against Liverpool, and we lost in the last 10 minutes against Manchester United. That has all been in the last six home games.
"Wigan are coming to play us and we want to keep that focus. Let's get more points at home.
"What has happened in the past we will leave in the past and just focus on what we can affect - the next game coming up."
