Blackburn Rovers square off against Austrian side Hartberg on Saturday as they look to progress their preparations for the next Championship campaign.

These two teams are scheduled to square off on two occasions on the same day as the English side look to impress against top-flight opposition.

Match preview

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Having challenged for promotion all season only to miss out on the playoffs, Jon Dahl Tomasson has a job on his hands to ensure that Blackburn remain a contender in the second tier.

Star man Ben Brereton Diaz has also left for Villarreal, leaving a huge void in the final third, but Sondre Tronstad, Arnor Sigurdsson and Niall Ennis all appear to be exciting additions to the group.

More signings will naturally follow when Premier League clubs begin to loan out their academy stars, yet Tomasson will welcome the chance to see some of his younger crop in action having already promoted players from the academy last season.

Like will be the case this weekend, Blackburn played two 60-minute matches versus Accrington Stanley on July 8, going down 1-0 in the first fixture and drawing the second by a 2-2 scoreline.

Tomasson's more youthful side impressed the most, overturning a two-goal deficit to earn a respectable share of the spoils, and that will give the Dane encouragement ahead of this encounter.

As for Hartberg, they cannot claim to have enjoyed the best 2022-23 campaign in the Austrian Bundesliga, initially finishing in 10th place in the first phase before avoiding relegation in the second.

Nevertheless, Markus Schopp - formerly of Barnsley - guided his side to a position which was just five points short of the Europa Conference League playoffs.

On Wednesday, Hartberg went up against Ukrainian outfit Polissya Zhytomyr, succumbing to a 3-2 defeat ahead of what will be a step up in quality at the weekend.

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Tomasson may decide to take a similar approach to this game as he did versus Accrington, opting for the more senior side in the first contest.

Tronstad was the only one of the three new arrivals to feature in that particular side and was withdrawn midway through the second half.

The second XI still featured the likes of Joe Rankin-Costello, Scott Wharton and Ryan Hedges, who will all feel that they could eventually earn spots in the team for the first Championship fixture.

One to watch for Hartberg could be Ruben Providence with the winger having just completed a permanent switch from Roma having impressed on loan during 2022-23.

We say: Hartberg 0-2 Blackburn Rovers

Tomasson will likely mix and match for both games, wanting to see as many players as possible and see what their current fitness levels are at this stage of the summer. Hartberg should put up a test in each fixture, yet we feel that Blackburn have the quality to run out victors.

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