Blackburn v Blackpool

Barclays Premier League
Venue: Ewood Park Date: Saturday, 19 March Kick-off: 1500 GMT
Coverage: Watch highlights on Match of the Day; listen on BBC Radio 5 live and local radio; text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles

TEAM NEWS

Blackburn welcome back defender Ryan Nelsen following a suspension, although Gael Givet now begins a two-match ban.

David Dunn, Keith Andrews and Vince Grella are doubtful, but Mauro Formica and Phil Jones are fit and available.

Blackpool skipper Charlie Adam is free from suspension but DJ Campbell still has two games of his ban to serve.

Goalkeeper Richard Kingson will start after overcoming a hamstring injury, with Eliot Grandin, Craig Cathcart and Gary Taylor-Fletcher also fully fit.

Blackburn

Suspended: Givet (two matches)

Doubtful: Andrews (groin), Dunn (hip), Grella (Achilles),
P Jones (knee)

Blackpool

Suspended: Campbell (two matches)

Injured/unavailable: Basham & Sbai (both fitness),
Clarke & Rachubka (both knee), Gilks (calf)

MATCH PREVIEW

Blackpool welcome back their captain and playmaker-in-chief Charlie Adam after his two-game ban. His return could not have come at a better time for the Tangerines, who head east across Lancashire locked together on 32 points with their north-west rivals Blackburn.

I think it’s the most important game of the season so far. It is a big game because if we get the three points we are at the same points tally as we were at this stage last season. We want to finish in the top 10 and a win would put us on track for that top 10 finish Steve Kean, Blackburn manager

In fact the two sides have identical records for the season with both winning, drawing and losing the same number of games. The sole reason Blackburn sit above Ian Holloway’s men is because they have conceded just three goals fewer over the course of the season.

Rovers’ duo Ryan Nelsen and Brett Emerton, who scored the stoppage-time winner when the clubs last met, have both drawn comparisons with their predicament this season to that of two seasons ago.

The long-serving southern hemisphere pair were part of the Rovers side that climbed away from trouble with a timely run of three straight home wins. Both therefore realise the benefits of the club’s fans in making Ewood Park such a difficult place to visit in recent seasons. Rovers have lost only seven times in 39 games since March 2009.

Blackpool will be licking their lips at the prospect of denting a record like that, as they have done all season. The Tangerines have won five times on their travels, one more than Premier League leaders Manchester United, and who would have thought that at this stage of the campaign? Top scorer DJ Campbell may still be absent through suspension but Adam’s return will restore some of that swashbuckling swagger back to Ian Holloway’s men.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

• Blackburn are looking to complete a first ever league double over Blackpool following their 2-1 win at Bloomfield Road in September. This is the 22nd season the two clubs have been in the same division.

• If Rovers win they will join Manchester City, Chelsea and Birmingham in beating Blackpool both home and away this term.

• Blackpool’s Matt Phillips scored the fastest goal in the Premier League so far this season after 49 seconds in the reverse fixture.

• Blackpool have won on three of their last four trips to Ewood Park, although those victories were back in the 1970s.

Blackburn

• Rovers are winless in their last five league games. It is their longest run without a victory since a nine-match streak between November 2009 and January 2010.

• Steve Kean’s men have accrued 11 points from 12 league matches under him – the same total as Wigan. Only West Brom (10) and Blackpool (10) have fewer points since he replaced Sam Allardyce.

• Blackburn have lost only two of eight games against the sides below them in the league table.

• If he plays, Michel Salgado will make his 50th Premier League appearance for Blackburn.

Blackpool

• The Tangerines are without a clean sheet in their last 12 league games; they have lost nine times during this period. They are also currently bottom of the six-game form table.

• Blackpool have won three, drawn two and lost five of their 10 Premier League matches against fellow north-west clubs this season.

• Ian Evatt, the club’s only ever-present this season, has made more defensive clearances (71) than any other Premier League player.

• If selected, Alex Baptiste will make his 250th English league appearance.

LEADING GOALSCORERS

Blackburn

Kalinic: 6 goals (5 league); Mame Diouf: 6 goals (3 league)

Blackpool

Campbell: 10 goals* (10 league); Adam: 8 goals (7 league)

*Includes 1 goal (1 league) for Leicester

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Howard Webb

Assistant referees: Dave Bryan & Andy Garratt

Fourth official: Martin Atkinson

LAST LEAGUE MATCH LINE-UPS

Blackburn (L2-3 v Fulham, a): Robinson; Salgado (Emerton 90), Hanley, Samba, Givet (Pedersen 76), Hoilett (Rochina 82), J Jones, Nzonzi, Olsson, Roberts, Diouf. Subs not used: Bunn, Kalinic, Andrews, Santa Cruz.

Blackpool (L1-3 v Chelsea, h): Kingson (Halstead 66); Eardley, Evatt, Baptiste, Crainey, Southern, Vaughan, Carney (Phillips 73), Puncheon, Reid (Ormerod 72), Beattie. Subs not used: Grandin, Taylor-Fletcher, Varney, Kornilenko.