Blackburn Rovers vs Wigan Athletic; Sky Bet Championship
Blackburn Rovers vs Wigan Athletic. Sky Bet Championship.
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Blackburn vs Wigan preview: Championship clash live on Sky Sports Football
Watch live on Sky Sports Football from 7.30pm on Monday night; kick-off is at 7.45pm
Monday 23 December 2019 20:44, UK
Blackburn face Wigan in the Sky Bet Championship on Monday night, live on Sky Sports Football.
Team news
Blackburn manager Tony Mowbray has to decide whether to change a winning line-up as his side take on struggling Wigan at Ewood Park on Monday evening. A good run of form has seen Rovers climb into the Sky Bet Championship top 10 and Mowbray has options to make changes following the 2-0 win at Bristol City last time out.
Bradley Dack missed that game through suspension but could return in place of Lewis Holtby while forward Danny Graham was rested. Sam Gallagher or Ben Brereton could make way for Graham although Adam Armstrong is pushing for a starting place after scoring as a substitute at Ashton Gate.
Wigan manager Paul Cook has options in defence ahead of the game with Blackburn. Kai Naismith has played the last two games after coming in for the suspended Chey Dunkley and will look to continue at centre-back but the latter will be hoping for a recall.
Centre-back Charlie Mulgrew (calf) and fellow defender Danny Fox (groin) both missed the 1-1 draw with Huddersfield last time out and are set to be absent once more. David Marshall also sat out the Huddersfield game because of a neck injury and is a doubt to face Blackburn.
Recent form
Rovers continue to climb the Championship table under the radar after an excellent run of form. Since their 2-1 defeat to Leeds at Elland Road on November 9, Tony Mowbray's men have won five of their last six games, with last Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Swansea the sole time they've dropped points.
Wigan are continuing to struggle near the bottom of the standings and they are without a win since October 20. They haven't won away all season, but strengthened their survival hopes somewhat, with 1-1 draws against West Brom and Huddersfield in the last week.
Talking point: Mowbray's Rovers' silent graft paying off
In their last six seasons in the Sky Bet Championship, Blackburn haven't once managed to reach the top six and they probably weren't backed as favourites at the start of this term. Then again, this is the Championship.
In fairness, it didn't start well. Rovers lost half of their first 16 games, with the aforementioned defeat to Leeds leaving them just five points above the drop zone. But since the end of last month's international break, something has clicked and, should things go their way across the weekend, they could find themselves in the play-off picture over the festive period.
Latest highlights
Opta stats
Blackburn have won nine of their last 11 league matches against Wigan at Ewood Park (W9 D1 L1).
The away side has won just one of the last 20 league meetings between Blackburn and Wigan, with the Latics winning 1-0 at Ewood Park in May 2012 under Roberto Martinez.
Live EFL
Blackburn have scored a league-high eight goals in the opening 15 minutes this season, accounting for 27 per cent of their goals (also a division-high).
Wigan have dropped 22 points from leading positions this season, the most in the Championship. Indeed, the Latics have lost four times having gone ahead this term (W4 D5).
Blackburn are unbeaten in their last six league games (W5 D1), this after losing five of the previous eight (W1 D2 L5).
No Championship side in 2019-20 is currently enduring a longer winless run than Wigan (10 games).
Prutton's prediction
Blackburn are on a great run of form and look like the kind of side that can challenge for the top six now. Tony Mowbray has got them firing.
Wigan can't stop throwing away points from winning positions. I feel like I'm talking about this every week! They will give it a good go at Ewood Park, but I'm backing Blackburn.
David Prutton predicts: 2-0 (7/1 with Sky Bet)
