What is happening at Ewood Park, when the club should be concentrating on Saturday’s Premier League fixture against Aston Villa and the task of drawing away from the relegation zone, the main headlines are regarding bust ups between manager Graeme Souness and his former Manchester United strikers, Yorke and Cole, plus alleged derogatory remarks about Blackburn by one of his defenders, Lucas Neill, to an Australian magazine. The only saving grace for Rovers at the moment is the poor form of the clubs below them. A couple of wins by any of those clubs would put Rovers in deep trouble, yet it appears that if press reports are true, Blackburn’s players are oblivious to their precarious position. These sort of outbursts and media stories don’t bode well on team moral and doesn’t give the already worried supporters confidence that the current team is aware of their plight or in their ability to battle their way out of this difficult situation. With Villa on a high after last weekends 4-0 victory against Wolves, this is no easy game for Blackburn, who now haven’t won since the 1-0 win away game at Middlesbrough on the 7th February. The supporters will again spend their hard earned money to travel and support the team, but their tolerance of under performing players and the blaming of referees or lady luck by the manager is wearing thin. This weekend and until the end of the season, the players and management must forget personal differences and get down to battling their way out of their precarious league position, otherwise there will be a repeat of the Brian Kidd syndrome, when the Rovers team who everyone said where to good to be relegated, ended up being relegated. In light of this weeks reported events, the worrying factor is whether the players are really bothered, at the end of the day the only people being victimised, should the club end up being relegated are the supporters who pay towards the wages, that players will still pick up whatever division they play in next season. Editor's comments are a personal opinion and may not represent the opinion of the site or it's members. For the site members opinionsClick here to read the fans message board forum There is no need to register to read the postings. Look out for additions, to this editorial, throughout the day, when updates on squad details for tomorrow will be added.

Despite going two goals down within 15 minutes, and having a man sent off in the second half, a valliant display by Rovers academy player kept the this tie alive for the return second leg at Ewood in a fortnights time. Rovers went a goal down with the first 10 minutes when left back Taylor cleared off the line, only for Villa to score from the clearance. Within a further five minutes when the stronger Villa team muscled their way though from a corner. With the referee handing out yellow cards like there was no tomorrow it was inevitable that someone would get sent off, and unfortunately it was Blackburn's Peter, who got his second yellow for a clumsy tackle from behind. However despite going two down and playing with ten for most of the second half the Rovers players, didnt drop their heads and responded with a spirited display. Ist Leg Final Score Villa 2 Rovers 1. Editorial Comment. There haven’t been many games this season, where I could have reported that although the team lost, they made a fight of it and didn’t drop their heads. Well I would suggest that Graeme Souness gets the senior team sat around to watch a video of tonight’s FA Youth Cup game, where the academy players wore the blue and white halves with pride. Villa a much more robust team went ahead early on through to corners, when they hussled and bustled a less experience and light weight Rovers defence. In fairness to Villa they weren’t a dirty side but they had been schooled in the fine art of backing, and leaning into opposition players, resulting in the less experienced Rovers player getting booked by the card happy referee. That being said Peter’s rash challenge from behind warranted a yellow card. Having seen the team twice now there are some promising players, whether they develop further, we will have to see. What I would say is though is that these lads are prepared to fight for the honour of wearing the shirt, which in fairness is what the supporters expect from all Rover’s player. Based on tonight’s performance, despite the defeat there is evidence of some good players emerging from the academy. Whilst Drench controls his area and has good positioning, his lack of height is detrimental. Peter playing on the left wing tonight gave the Villa some problems with his turn of speed and Taylor has, wait for it, “a sweet left foot” and could be our future left back. Barr at the centre of the defence was commanding and despite his height won most aerial battles. That said it’s unfair on the other players to single out specific players, as they all played their part in keeping this tie alive, making the return leg at Ewood Park a tasty prospect.

On an other matter the media were also quick to suggest that Dwight Yorke's career at Blackburn was over following a training ground bust up with manager Graeme Souness. However Souness has been quick to respond telling BBC Sport. "There was something, but these things happen on training grounds every week in football and you move on. "You want your players to be competitive and we'll speak about it." Souness described claims that Yorke's Blackburn career was over after the incident as "absolute nonsense."

Blackburn's youth team take on Aston Villa at Villa Park in the first leg of the FA Youth Cup Semi Final. TONIGHT..... kick off 7pm. Team. Rovers. Drench, Peers, Andy Taylor, Luke Jones, Barr, Weaver, Peter, Stopforth, Walsh, Barker, Byrom. Subs . Hodge, Zak Jones, Reid, Welch, Garner.

Kangaroo Court Don’t we all fall for it every time, like some soap episode on television, we believe everything placed before us. The power of the media can be a wonderful tool in spreading instant news but it can also be the catalyst of miss interpretation. The press were quick to report an article in an Australian ex pat magazine, regarding alleged quotes by Blackburn’s Australian defender Lucas Neill stating that he had a low opinion of Blackburn as a town; and readers were just as quick to believe the comments attributed to Lucas Neill. Lucas Neill, whose girlfriend comes from Blackburn, has hit back at these comments, and for those who are not registered with the Rover’s official web site, I will quote. “The piece is outrageous, I have no problem with this area, quite the contrary. I have always been made very welcome here and I spend a lot of time in the region – I even go out with a Blackburn girl. I felt the reporter’s questions were loaded and all I said was that Blackburn was not a Sydney or London, to give him a sense of scale. He asked if I missed Australia and I told him that everyone misses the place where their family is based to some extent. I also said that they get more sun than we do over here and I don’t think anyone can argue with that.” The above quotes are courtesy of www.rovers.co.uk (link) To read the full article you may need to register

match comments by roversmum Enckleman - seemed a bit out of sorts. His kicks from back-passes were all over the place. Wasn't troubled much really. Fitzgerald - good game, this lad is one for the future. Gresko - played as left back. Several shots, one saved, one woodwork and one a foot or so wide. His crosses are excellent, completion on all but a couple. Work rate good. If we want a left winger, can't see why he shouldn't do the job. Man of Match in my opinion. Donnelly - worked hard but have seen him do better. Amoruso - enthusiastic but not quite match fit yet. Did ok. Johansson - not his best match. Watt - does better on left imo but passable on right wing and didn't give Stewart Downing many chances. Gary Harkins - another who did well and made a nuisance of himself. Jemal Johnson - worked hard, was accompanied by at least two Boro players every time he got near the ball. Brought down in the area and should have had a penalty. His size was a disadvantage against their much bigger defenders although he did manage to slip past them once or twice. Reid - showed his class immediately with a shot that hit the bar and scoring soon after. I think the tackle was mis-timed due to his lack of match fitness; the resulting fracture of Andrew Davies' leg was unfortunate. Worrying about his injury. Nelson (sub for Reid)- didn't notice him particularly but got stuck in with the rest. Dwight Yorke - not really interested except to showboat. Had little intention of doing any work. Made the odd half-hearted run. Would have been amusing if imo it hadn't lost us the game. The ball rarely got anywhere near the boro goal and when it did there weren't enough Rovers bodies to make use of it as each player was immediately covered by two of theirs. A fair bit of the game seemed to be spent on Boro corners. Of their players, the outstanding one for me was Jonathan Greening - his pace is amazing. Looked out for Stewart Downing who managed to make a couple of fast runs but generally was kept fairly quiet. Not sure about their last goal, could it have been offside? Thought Rovers deserved at least a point.

In tonights game Rovers lost 2-1 to Boro. Rovers goal was scored by Reid however his joy of scoring was soured when later he pulled up with a suspected reoccurrance of his hamstring injury. As soon as his pulled up he held the back of his thigh and walked to the bench. Boro were also hit by an injury. When one of their player was carried off with a suspected broken leg. Boro took the lead within the first 5 minutes, before Reid equalisted however Ricketts scored later to give Boro the points. This was not a game for the spectators ( approximatly 200) with first team player Yorke getting the most critism from the crowd for lack of interest.

Blackburn defender Amoruso played his second game in a week tonight, when the reserves met Middlesbrough at Christie Park, Morecambe. Amoruso was joined in the team by Steven Reid who made his first appearance since being injured in December.

After going a goal down, Rovers hit back with goals by, Misbah, Garner (2) and Welch. Link to Official Rovers Site Match Report You may need to register to read the official site report

Blackburn's U17 squad continued their impressive goal scoring abilities this season with a 4-1 win at home against Middlesbrough.

Whilst second half goals by Thierry Henry and Robert Pires may have given Arsenal a 2-0 win at Ewood Park this afternoon, once again the headlines revolve around crucial decisions made by the match officials. Referee Alan Wiley’s decision to award a dubious free kick following a collision between Henry and Rover’s defender Craig Short in the second half, was a cruel blow for the Rover’s team, who had controlled the game up to this point Defending the Blackburn End in the first half Blackburn set off with a game plan to close down the Arsenal players, with Douglas and Andresen given the holding role in midfield restricting Arsenal to speculative long range shots. With little creative presence from the Rovers midfield, Cole and Jansen were forces to search for the ball up front, and Rovers in fairness were the first of the two teams to threaten, when Ashley Cole had to clear Short's header off the line. Rovers plan appeared to work, although there was a scare for the Rover’s supporters, when Henry stole the ball from Friedel’s grasp as the keeper prepared to kick the ball up field. However the referee disallowed the goal for dangerous play. With Rovers playing the tactical game there were very few goalmouth incidents in the first half, which ended goalless. The turning point of the game occurred 10 minutes into the second half when Henry broke away and whilst running towards the area, collided with Short, for which Short was penalised by referee Alan Wiley. Henry took the resultant free kick and curled the ball into the back of the Rovers net. With Rovers a goal down they were forced to change their game plan, having to come out in search of an equaliser. Souness made some tactical substitutions, the first being to bring on Yorke for Jansen, which nearly paid off when Cole laid Yorke’s pass, low across the goalmouth, but Douglas, sliding into the six yards box failed to connect. Souness made further changes in an attempt to gain a valuable point in order to climb the table, bringing on Gresko and Babbel, for Douglas and Todd, with Babbel playing up front to give some aerial threat, however Rovers weren’t able to get back on terms, and with time running out Pires sealed the win for Arsenal three minutes from time. Blackburn: Friedel, Neill, Todd (Babbel 84), Short, Gray, Emerton, Tugay, Andresen, Douglas (Gresko 77), Cole, Jansen (Yorke 73). Subs Not Used: Johansson, Enckelman. Yellow card: Andresen Arsenal: Lehmann, Lauren, Toure, Campbell, Cole, Silva, Edu, Vieira, Pires (Cygan 89), Reyes (Clichy 77), Henry. Subs Not Used: Kanu, Bentley, Stack. Yellow card: Edu Referee: A Wiley In his post match interview Blackburn manager Graeme Souness stated. "A poxy decision has cost us the game. It was never a free-kick, and that changed the game because up until that point we were containing them. "What we had worked on all week, keeping their major players quiet, was working but you can't legislate for decisions like that going against you. "Once again Lady Luck has not shone on us. If you look at the incident there's a coming together of Craig Short and Thierry Henry, and Henry himself made no appeal for a free-kick and that tells you everything. "Craig has said that Thierry Henry told him he didn't think it was a free-kick at the time - that's why we are having a frustrating old season."

Read the fans views on the Arsenal game from page 15 of this LINK

Blackburn set off with a game plan to close down the Arsenal players, with Douglas and Andresen given the holding role in midfield restricting Arsenal to speculative long range shots. With little creative presence Cole and Jansen were forces to search for the ball up front, however Rovers were first to threaten when Ashley Cole had to clear Short's header off the line. Rovers plan appeared to work, although there was a scare for the Rover’s supporters, when Henry stole the ball from Friedel’s grasp as the keeper prepared to kick the ball up field. However the referee disallowed the goal for dangerous play. With Rovers playing the tactical game there were very few goalmouth incidents in the first half, which ended goaless. The turning point of the game occurred 10 minutes into the second half when Henry broke away and whilst running towards the area, collided with Short, for which Short was penalised by referee Alan Wiley. Henry took the resultant free kick and curled the ball into the back of the Rovers net. With Rovers a goal down they were forced to change their game plan, having to come out in search of an equaliser. Souness made some tactical substitutions, the first being to bring on Yorke for Jansen, which nearly paid off when Cole laid Yorke’s pass, low across the goalmouth, but Douglas, sliding into the six yards box failed to connect. Souness made further changes bringing on Gresko and Babbel, the later playing up front to give some airial threat, however Rovers weren’t able to get back on terms, and with time running out Pires sealed the win for Arsenal three minutes from time.

Whilst second half goals by Thierry Henry and Robert Pires may have given Arsenal a 2-0 win at Ewood Park this afternoon, once again the headlines will revolve around crucial decisions made by the match officials. Referee Alan Wiley’s decision to award a dubious free kick following a collision between Henry and Rover’s defender Craig Short in the second half, was a cruel blow for the Rover’s team, who had controlled the game up to this point. Although Rovers hadn’t been an attacking threat, their game plan had shackled Arsenal to speculative long shots from the edge of the area, until Henry scored from the free kick. In his post match interview Blackburn manager Graeme Souness is reported as having said. "A poxy decision has cost us the game. It was never a free-kick, and that changed the game because up until that point we were containing them. "What we had worked on all week, keeping their major players quiet, was working but you can't legislate for decisions like that going against you. "Once again Lady Luck has not shone on us. If you look at the incident there's a coming together of Craig Short and Thierry Henry, and Henry himself made no appeal for a free-kick and that tells you everything. "Craig has said that Thierry Henry told him he didn't think it was a free-kick at the time - that's why we are having a frustrating old season." Blackburn: Friedel, Neill, Todd (Babbel 84), Short, Gray, Emerton, Tugay, Andresen, Douglas (Gresko 77), Cole, Jansen (Yorke 73). Subs Not Used: Johansson, Enckelman. Yellow card: Andresen Arsenal: Lehmann, Lauren, Toure, Campbell, Cole, Silva, Edu, Vieira, Pires (Cygan 89), Reyes (Clichy 77), Henry. Subs Not Used: Kanu, Bentley, Stack. Yellow card: Edu Referee: A Wiley

Arsenal Squad : Lehmann, Stack, Lauren, Toure, Campbell, Keown, Cygan, Cole, Clichy, Vieira, Edu, Gilberto, Pires, Ljungberg, Reyes, Bentley, Henry, Bergkamp, Kanu.

Blackburn midfielder Neil Danns is reported to have joined Hartlepool United on loan. Earlier in the season Danns went on loan to Blackpool, but since returning to Rovers his only first team appearance was as substitute in the 4-3 home defeat by Bolton.

Jon Stead's injured hamstring has recovered sufficiently to be included in Blackburn's squad for tomorrows game against Arsenal and Rovers will assess his fitness again tomorrow morning, before Souness names his team. With a hamstring injury ruling out Paul Gallagher, Souness, will subject to the results of Stead's fitness test have the options of pairing one of four strikers, Stead, Cole, Yorke and Jansen in leading the attack. The inclusion of Jansen having been the topic of great debate by members of this site following Jansens omission from the reserves mid week. Italian defender Lorenzo Amoruso who did have a run out in the reserves is not considered match fit yet and has been omitted from the squad. Blackburn Squad : Friedel, Neill, Gresko, Johansson, Todd, Short, Babbel, Gray, Andresen, Tugay, Emerton, Douglas, Jansen, Cole, Yorke, Stead, Enckelman.

Although Rover's gained their win thanks to an own goal by Everton's Moogan, their overall performance indicated a correct result was achieved. Amoruso making his come back after a lengthy injury had a solid game along side Johansson, although Amo did pick up a yellow card for his efforts. Dwight Yorke make an impression with his work rate and Johnson once again impressed, the watching crowd of around 900 spectators, with his attacking presence.

An own goal by Everton's Moogan, 27minutes in to the game gave Blackburn Reserves a 1-0 win tonight at Christie Park, Morecambe.

Rovers Enckelman, Fitzgerald, Amoruso, Johansson, Gresko, Nelso, Danns, Donnelly, Morgan, Yorke, Johnson. subs. Harkins, Yelldell, Taylor, Barker. Everton From..Wright, Moogan, Fox, Gerrard, Weir, Gemmill, Nyarko, Carsley, Chadwick, Jeffers, McFadden, Gallagher, Wilson, Hughes, Pascucci, Brown.

Aston Villa v Blackburn Rovers The semi-finals will be contested over two legs. The away leg will be played at Villa Park on the 17th March, 7pm kick off. The home leg will be played at Ewood Park on Saturday 3rd April. 2pm kick off.

The home leg will be played at Ewood Park on Saturday 3rd April kick off. 2pm

Young striking partners Jon Stead and Paul Gallagher have been ruled out of Saturdays game against Arsenal, as both are suffering from from hamstring injuries. Manager Graeme Souness told the club's official website: "Jon is nearer to playing and we could push him on, but we have some very big games coming up and it's simply not worth the risk. "As for Gally, he's doing well but you can't take chances with injuries like this and he won't be ready."

Italian defender Amoruso makes his return to competative football tonight for the reserves against Everton at Christie Park, Morecambe. Rovers team .................

There will be mixed feelings amongst Blackburn supporters this Saturday, with the visit of Champions elect, Arsenal. Whilst the fans main objective will be that the team pick up another 3 points to draw away from the relegation zone, there will also be admiration for the London team, who have been playing exceptionally entertaining football this season. Rovers players shouldn’t need motivating for this fixture and will need to remember that the game kicks off at 3pm, any laps of concentration against Arsenal, who haven’t been beaten this season, would result in punishment. If the Rovers aren’t going to be mugged, like Nils Johansson during the team bonding trip to Spain, they will have to be on top of their game and with the news that the striking partnership of Stead and Gallagher will be missing, it could be an uphill task. Whilst a majority of supporters will be apprehensive about the result of this game, the thought of defeat will be tempered by the thought that Manchester United won’t close the gap at the top of the table. What the supporters will however demand is that the team play with a passion, showing the pride in wearing the shirt and putting in a performance worthy of their support. That being said, the supporters will also need to be up for this game and play their part in lifting the team, sentiments expressed eloquently by one of the members of this web site, FourLaneBlue Quote. “So just in case we do find ourselves outclassed on Saturday, let's do credit to ourselves and our club as well. If players don't try they don't deserve our backing but against Arsenal even if they try their hardest they may well still be thrashed. If that happens, let's do a Portsmouth. Just for once. For those players who you do know are trying. For the town of Blackburn. For the county of Lancashire. For the sport of football." To read more of FourLaneBlues comments and the Fans Match Preview, Predictions click on the following links. Just in case the worst happens Arsenal Preview There is no need to register to read the topics