Blackburn Rovers’ aspirations of becoming a Premier League side again are dwindling as the club suffered their ninth away defeat of the season on Saturday.
The former Premier League staple, were looking like serious title contenders at the start of the season, keeping up with frontrunners Burnley and Sheffield United.
Blackburn were sitting two points off The Blades in second place at the start of December but have only picked up nine points in nine games since then.
As a result, The Riversiders currently sit fifth in the Championship table now 12 points behind Sheffield United and three points away from dropping out of the playoff places.
The major reason for this downfall is the club’s away form, having lost nine out of 14 games away from home this season but surprisingly are yet to have drawn a game.
Defeats away to teams such as Rotherham, Wigan Athletic and Cardiff City have cost the team valuable ground which is now surely out of reach.
This is not an uncommon sight for Blackburn fans as the club has faced similar troubles in the past few years, the Lancashire side missed out on the play-offs by six points at the end of last season.
This season has seen a few stars emerge as goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski has helped the Rovers keep 10 clean sheets from 32 games making an average of three saves per game including a man of the match performance in the side’s 2-1 victory over Middlesbrough.
The other key performer Ben Brereton Diaz also has been in fine form yet again but do his goal droughts come with a curse?
Blackburn Rovers have won eight out of nine games in which Diaz has scored which is equivalent to 88.8% of games.
As for goal contributions in general 10 out of the club’s 14 wins this season have had a Diaz goal contribution.
With heavy rumours around the Chilean’s future at the club given his contract situation and the side’s valuation of the player, if Rovers weren’t to get promoted this season, it is likely that the striker would leave.
The striker leaving on a free would be a massive loss both financially and for the club’s chances of promotion for the following year.
The Lancashire-based side will be hoping to add to their roster in the following weeks, as a lack of squad depth has also hindered the side.
An underwhelming summer transfer window did not match what the side had lost in key players such as Darragh Lenihan and Joe Rothwell departing.
Liverpool midfielder Tyler Morton was added to the ranks on loan as well as the signing of former Coventry centre-back Dominic Hyam.
With both becoming fan favourites, but on loan Leicester City striker George Hirst quickly became a villain after missing a crucial penalty in a loss to Cardiff City.
This led to his recall from Leicester in early January leaving Blackburn without a back up striker.
With striker Sam Gallagher suffering with injury issues and midfielder Bradley Dack only just coming back from an ACL injury the side is looking to add a striker in the window, with Leeds striker Joe Gelhardt heavily linked.
Blackburn Rovers fans are sure to be frustrated with the club but with a growing injury list, the fans will be concerned leading into a busy fixture schedule to start February including facing two playoff contenders away from home.
