Rovers Drop Back Into Relegation Zone

[Guest Kamy100]

Rovers dropped back into the relegation zone last night, despite picking up a point against Everton at Ewood Park.

Rovers went into the game looking to build upon the victory against Hull. Jason Roberts came in for the suspended Pedersen and Jason Brown replaced the injured Paul Robinson. Manager Sam Allardyce decided to play Roque Santa Cruz on the right wing.

The first half was a very tight affair with neither team being able to take control of the game, however on 17 minutes Rovers could have taken the lead, after great work from Santa Cruz the ball fell to Keith Andrews, whose goal bound shot was brilliantly blocked by the Everton defence. As the first half drew to a close Everton started to dominate and should have taken the lead on 40 minutes when Steven Pinear picked the ball up just inside the penalty area and unleashed a rasping drive which was brilliantly saved by Jason Brown.

The second half was much more frantic with Rovers having the best of the chances. Santa Cruz screwed a shot wide and Stephen Warnock's free kick hit the bar. The games seminal moment arrived on 61 minutes, Jason Roberts did well to shake of 2 Everton defenders and found himself one on one with the goalkeeper, however his weak shot was saved by Tim Howard. Rovers continued to push forward but could not create any further opportunities, indeed it was Everton who could have won the game, as the game entered injury time Rovers failed to deal adequately with an Everton corner, the ball fell to Lescott who fired over from 5 yards.

So Rovers find themselves back in the relegation zone, however the positives are that teams are finding much harder fto breakdown Rovers and the team does seem to be playing with more belief. The big problem that team faces is that they keep failing to make the most of clear cut chances and this could come back and haunt them come the end of the season.

Next up for Rovers is a critical game against Fulham at Craven Cottage. This is the game in hand, a victory would see Rovers move 2 points clear of the relegation zone.

Manager Quotes and Match Facts:

Sam Allardyce:

"We should have been well out of it by now but we are not so we just have to hold our nerve.

"We are back in the bottom three but on the positive side we have picked up another valuable point.

"We've only lost two matches in 10 games. The game we have in hand on most of the other teams could be critical."

David Moyes:

"Teams are pushing us from behind and our ambition is still to get fourth if we can but of course we will need to play better.

"We are disappointed because we wanted to take three points.

"But teams have no divine right to go to places such as Blackburn and think they can walk all over them."

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Blackburn: Brown, Ooijer, Samba, Nelsen, Givet (Mokoena 64), Andrews, Grella (Kerimoglu 46), Warnock, Roque Santa Cruz, Roberts, Diouf (Treacy 88).

Subs Not Used: Bunn, Dunn, McCarthy, Simpson.

Booked: Givet.

Everton: Howard, Jagielka, Yobo, Lescott, Baines, Osman, Neville, Rodwell (Saha 71), Pienaar, Cahill, Jo (Fellaini 78).

Subs Not Used: Nash, Van der Meyde, Castillo, Jacobsen, Gosling.

Att: 21,445

Ref: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire).