Middlesbrough picked up another useful point in their recent 1-1 draw at home against Birmingham City at the Riverside Stadium as Jonathan Woodgate’s side continue to inch their way towards safety in the Championship.
The hosts have suffered just 1 defeat out of their last 7 matches overall in the second tier which was an understandable 1-0 defeat away at high-flying Fulham, although Boro had previously recorded back-to-back wins away at the likes of West Brom and Preston North End so perhaps it was a little disappointing.
Nevertheless, Boro have seen a welcome transformation from a club on a seemingly unstoppable downward spiral to relegation to one of the top five form sides in the Championship, and it’s this recent upturn in results which will give Middlesbrough belief in continuing their revival against Blackburn.
Boro are unbeaten in their last 8 matches at the Riverside Stadium and this sequence includes wins against Barnsley, Charlton Athletic, Stoke City and Huddersfield Town, but also includes 4 draws too.
Blackburn Rovers registered a second win on the trot in the Championship during the week when they recorded a 2-1 home win over QPR which followed an emphatic 5-0 thrashing of Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough in the match beforehand.
Congrats @_MarcusTavv! ✍️ #UTB— Middlesbrough FC (@Boro) January 29, 2020
Congrats @_MarcusTavv! ✍️ #UTB
Nobody could have predicted the way that Blackburn set about dismantling a normally solid and well-drilled Sheffield Wednesday side, and no doubt Rovers will also be heading into this clash with Middlesbrough in confident mood as they seek out a third league win on the trot in the Championship.
However, whilst Blackburn have lost just twice on home turf at Ewood Park so far this season, manager, Tony Mowbray will be only too aware of his side’s shortcomings on their travels in this campaign to date as he prepares to do battle against one of his former clubs in the north-east this Saturday.
Inconsistency has plagued Rovers on the road this term and this is reflected in their last 5 away matches as they gained a point in a 1-1 draw at Swansea City, beat Bristol City 2-0, lost back-to-back at Huddersfield Town and Nottingham Forest, before subjecting The Owls to a 5-0 loss at Hillsborough.
The draw has prevailed in 5 of the last 8 meetings between these two sides though and have resulted in low-scoring stalemates, so we could be heading for another tightly fought affair this Saturday with the points shared in this encounter.