Blackburn Rovers play host to Huddersfield Town on Saturday afternoon still sitting in second place in the Championship standings despite suffering an eighth defeat of the season in midweek.
Meanwhile, Huddersfield, who have recorded just two more losses than their hosts, are bottom and sit five points adrift of safety.
Match preview
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On the back of four successive wins, there were signs that Blackburn were ready to ditch their inconsistency tag and continue to sit alongside North West rivals Burnley at the top of the table.
However, a 1-0 reverse at lowly Coventry City on Tuesday night showed once again that Jon Dahl Tomasson's side are far from the finished article and can ill-afford any complacency at this stage of the season.
While Blackburn deserve credit for winning 11 of their 19 league games this season, losing eight times suggests that they remain vulnerable, and Tomasson needs needs a big push from his team in the two matches before the international break.
After five wins in a row at Ewood Park, a home fixture against the bottom-placed team is ideal for Rovers, yet they play this game with the added pressure of knowing that a short trip to Burnley is to come in their next game.
On a positive note, Blackburn now sit five points clear of seventh place, and victory on Saturday will guarantee that they remain in the top six during the World Cup.
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From Huddersfield's perspective, they remain very much a work in progress under Mark Fotheringham, who has collected eight points from as many matches since his arrival.
After keeping clean sheets against Middlesbrough and Millwall, there would have been confidence that a third could be kept against Sunderland in front of their own supporters, but the Terriers were outfought by the Black Cats.
As well as missing out on another shutout, Huddersfield have now only netted once in four games, that strike from Yuta Nakayama remaining debatable whether it was intentional or not.
Although the Yorkshire outfit still possess a game in hand on many of the teams above them, there is an urgency to close the five-point gap to safety over their upcoming triple-header.
However, those three games are against teams in the top seven, and Fotheringham is under no illusions that he requires a sharp upturn in quality from his squad.
Team News
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With Sam Gallagher likely to miss out again with a foot injury, Jack Vale, Tyrhys Dolan and George Hirst are all competing for a starting role.
Harry Pickering could return at left wing-back, allowing for Callum Brittain to return to the opposite flank.
Youngster Jake Garrett will sit out this contest after collecting a late red card soon after being introduced as a substitute at Coventry.
Huddersfield have huge issues in defence with Nakayama and Ben Jackson joining the list of unavailable players after picking up injuries against Sunderland.
Luke Mbete and William Boyle are both in contention for an opportunity at centre-back, while Fotheringham must decide whether he wishes to recall the likes of Jonathan Russell and Danny Ward.
Sorba Thomas will return to the team after serving a one-match ban for five yellow cards.
Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Kaminski; Hyam, Ayala, S. Wharton; Brittain, Morton, A. Wharton, Pickering; Szmodics, Brereton Diaz; Hirst
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Spencer, Helik, Mbete, Ruffels; Camara, Holmes; Ward, Rudoni, Thomas; Rhodes
We say: Blackburn Rovers 2-1 Huddersfield Town
With Huddersfield having shown signs of improvements in recent weeks, this may prove to be a more competitive fixture than many are anticipating. Nevertheless, we cannot look past Rovers at their home ground, leading us to predict a hard-fought victory by the odd goal in three.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Darren Plant
