Blackburn Rovers and Huddersfield Town will both be keen to make amends after losing their opening fixtures of the new Championship season.

It has been a difficult week for both side, with the duo also losing their first-round League Cup ties earlier this week, leaving them each facing the possibility of a third defeat in eight days when they meet at the John Smith's Stadium on Saturday.

Huddersfield Town

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Huddersfield followed up a 2-0 defeat to Yorkshire rivals Hull City with an exit at the hands of League Two Notts County in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday, resulting in back-to-back losses for the side.

Chris Powell admitted that he was disappointed by his side's efforts in the cup, letting a one-goal lead slip to lose to Ricardo Moniz's side, who played the last 20 minutes reduced to 10 men.

The manager will be optimistic with a home league tie just around the corner though, as his side lost just seven of their 23 fixtures at their own stadium during the 2014-15 Championship season.

Scoring goals was Huddersfield's big strength last season, with the team netting 58 goals in total, with the likes of James Vaughan, Harry Bunn and Nakhi Wells all providing a threat.

Defending was a different matter though, as the Terriers kept just 10 clean sheets while conceding 75 goals. Only three sides performed worse at the back last term, including Millwall and Blackpool who were relegated.

Although it is still early in the season, last week's loss to Hull has left the team in the relegation zone, so another defeat this weekend would put the team under pressure.

Recent form: WDDDDL
Recent form (all competitions): LLDLLL

Blackburn Rovers

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Blackburn suffered a narrow defeat on the opening day of the season, losing 2-1 to Wolverhampton Wanderers, before crashing out of the Capital One Cup in a surprise loss to Shrewsbury Town by the same scoreline.

Gary Bowyer would have been confident coming into the start of the new campaign, with his side losing just once in a packed pre-season schedule, which featured six matches in just over three weeks.

The Lancashire side also had one of the best finishes to the season in the second tier, not losing in their final seven fixtures of the campaign to leave them ninth in the final standings, and making them one of the sides tipped to push for promotion this term.

There has been some distraction over the last couple of weeks with striker Jordan Rhodes the subject of a bid from Championship rivals Middlesbrough. The Scot joined Blackburn from this weekend's hosts in 2012.

It has not been the busiest of transfer windows for Bowyer, with five players coming in on free transfers, and Modou Barrow joining on loan from Swansea City, while Rudy Gestede, Paul Robinson and Leon Best have all departed.

Rhodes led the team to 66 goals in the league last season, just two fewer than Boro, who were the beaten playoff finalists and the 10th best in the league. Their defence kept 10 cleans sheets while letting in 59 goals.

Recent form: DDWDWL
Recent form (all competitions): WWDWLL

Team News

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Huddersfield were without goalkeeper Alex Smithies for their Cup loss earlier in the week as he had become a father, but Powell has confirmed that he will be available again on Saturday.

Sean Scannell, Vaughan and Joe Lolley are all carrying knocks, but the manager is optimistic that they will be available for selection for this fixture.

For the visitors, Fode Koita and Mo Barrow could make their first league starts after coming on as second-half substitutes against Shrewsbury earlier this week, while new signing Hope Akpan is also in line for his debut after being ineligible to play on Tuesday.

Midfielder Chris Taylor is the only player that has been definitely ruled out for Blackburn, as he is still a couple of weeks away from fitness after picking up a groin injury at the end of last season.

Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Smithies, Cranie, Hudson, Lynch, Smith, Hammill, Whitehead, Butterfield, Davidson, Vaughan, Bunn

Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Raya, Henley, Hanley, Duffy, Olsson, Marshall, Guthrie, Lowe, Koita, Akpan, Rhodes

Head To Head

In the two meetings between these sides last season, there was nothing to separate them, as a goalless draw at Ewood Park was followed up by a 2-2 stalemate at the John Smith's Stadium.

This will be the fourth straight season that the two clubs have been in the same division, and Huddersfield are still waiting for their first victory since winning promotion back to the Championship, suffering two defeats and sharing four draws with Blackburn over the last three years.

Huddersfield's last win came in a pre-season friendly in 2010, while their last competitive victory was back in 1999 in the second tier.

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Hit play below to see what the Sports Mole Sofa had to say about this encounter:

We say: Huddersfield Town 2-2 Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn are probably the stronger of the two sides on paper, but Huddersfield proved to be a tough side to beat at home last season. There has been little between the teams in their most recent meetings, including both of last year's fixtures, and with them both struggling at the start of the new campaign, avoiding another defeat may be more important than pushing for the win.

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