Preview: Blackburn Rovers vs Portsmouth - prediction, team news, lineups

Two teams battling for survival will face off when Blackburn Rovers welcome Portsmouth to Ewood Park for Saturday's lunchtime kick-off.

Rovers are sitting in 20th place and four points clear of the bottom three, while Pompey are just a point better off in 19th position.

Match preview

Blackburn boss Michael O'Neill has experienced mixed results since being named Valerien Ismael's permanent successor last month.

The 56-year-old started positively with back-to-back wins over Queens Park Rangers and Preston North End, only to see that early momentum disappear with consecutive losses against Bristol City and Derby County.

Hayden Carter gave Rovers the lead in their recent away clash against Derby, before ex-Blackburn forward Ben Brereton Diaz equalised in the opening stages of the second half to kickstart the fightback against his former employers.

Matt Clarke and Rhian Brewster went on to grab a goal apiece to condemn Blackburn to their fourth defeat in the past five away league matches.

With that in mind, Rovers should be looking forward to returning to the familiar surroundings of Ewood Park, but while they have won two of their last three home outings, they head into the weekend with the second-worst home record in the division.

They can at least draw inspiration from the fact that they have won their last four matches against Portsmouth at Ewood Park, including 3-0 victories in their previous two home encounters.

From Portsmouth's perspective, they will head on their travels with hopes of claiming their first away victory over Blackburn since Nwankwo Kanu netted the only goal in a 1-0 success in September 2007.

The visitors will enter Saturday's contest on the back of four defeats in the last six matches, including back-to-back losses against Wrexham and Hull City.

A 2-1 loss at the Racecourse Ground brought Pompey back down to earth following consecutive away wins against Charlton Athletic and Millwall, before a mistake at the back handed Hull City a 1-0 win at Fratton Park last weekend.

Attacker Adrian Segecic initially gave away the ball outside his own box, and then underhit a backpass when the ball came back into his path, forcing Nicolas Schmid into a desperate clearance that only reached Matt Crooks, who stroked the ball home to condemn Pompey to consecutive home league defeats for the first time since October.

John Mousinho will be desperate for his side to avoid similar errors in his 150th league game in charge of the club, although his hopes of victory may be tempered by the fact that only two of the previous 10 managers to reach the milestone have celebrated it with a win.

If Mousinho can become the third Pompey manager to win his 150th league match, it would represent the club's first league double over Blackburn since 1969-70 - a feat that is possible after winning 2-1 in December's reverse fixture.

Blackburn Rovers Championship form:

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Portsmouth Championship form:

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Team News

Blackburn midfielder Sondre Tronstad has been ruled out for the remainder of the season after undergoing full anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Rovers are expected to be without Aynsley Pears, Lewis Miller, Augustus Kargbo, Todd Cantwell and Ryan Hedges.

O'Neill are hopeful that a hamstring issue will not prevent Hayden Carter from featuring in Saturday's fixture, while Scott Wharton and Sidnei Tavares could be fit enough to feature among the substitutes.

As for Portsmouth, their lengthy injury list includes Keshi Anderson, Florian Bianchini, Josh Murphy, Franco Umeh and Thomas Waddingham.

They are also without the services of Josh Knight, Andre Dozzell, Mark Kosznovszky and Josh Swift, although there is hope that the latter could return in time for Tuesday's home clash with Swansea.

In positive news, defender Conor Shaughnessy will return to the matchday squad after recovering from a hamstring injury that has kept him out since January.

Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:

Toth; Carter, McLoughlin, Cashin; Alebiosu, Montgomery, Baradji, Ribeiro; Morishita; Ohashi; Gudjohnsen

Portsmouth possible starting lineup:

Schmid; Devlin, Poole, Ogilvie, Swanson; Pack, Adams; Caballero, Segecic, Alli; Bishop

We say: Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Portsmouth

Both teams are dealing with a whole host of injury concerns, although neither side can afford to feel sorry for themselves in a fierce relegation battle.

With only a point separating the two clubs, we think the two sides could cancel one another out in a cagey score draw.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.