[themaclad]

Nice way to kick off 4 months on International free football with a visit from our nearest and not very dearest local rivals.
Apparently they actually won the Premier Legue annd have spent the last 30 years telling everyone about it, the only reason they did win it,, because a French farmer(take your time) kung fooed someone at Selhurst Park

https://www.rovers.co.uk/

MANAGER

Valérien Alexandre Ismaël (born 28 September 1975) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of EFL Championship club Blackburn Rovers.

A centre-back, Ismaël played for Strasbourg, Crystal Palace, Lens, Werder Bremen, Bayern Munich and Hannover 96. As a player, he won the Coupe de France, the Coupe de la Ligue twice, the Bundesliga twice, as well as the DFB-Pokal on two occasions. Following his retirement, he moved into management, first as a reserve coach for a number of clubs before moving into senior management with spells at 1. FC Nürnberg, VfL Wolfsburg and with Austrian Bundesliga club LASK, before spells with English Championship clubs Barnsley, West Bromwich Albion and Watford. He was appointed head coach of Blackburn Rovers in February 2025.



FORM GUIDE

PNE 13 BLACKBURN 13



They had been on a good run but lost last time out

Newbies and inform

[themaclad]

Team News
[
There’s positive news on the injury front for Paul Heckingbottom as Daniel Jebbison, Pol Valentín and Will Keane all come back into contention after spells out.

Long-term absentee Brad Potts is getting closer and is joining in with parts of training but is not yet ready for match action, and the same can be said for midfielder Ali McCann.

Andrija Vukčević, Lewis Gibson and Robbie Brady also remain sidelined.

The Visitors
[
After their opening 14 matches, Blackburn Rovers sit 19th in the table but no doubt buoyed by their recent form.

Despite heading into the international break with a home defeat to Derby County, Valérien Ismaël’s side had won their previous three matches against Bristol City, Leicester City and Southampton respectively.

Rovers’ strength has come on the road so far this season, having picked up 12 points from their seven away matches, compared to four at Ewood Park.

Match Officials
Referee: Paul Tierney
Assistant Referees: Dan Cook and Sian Massey-Ellis
Fourth Official: David Webb

Experienced Premier League official Paul Tierney will be the referee for this fixture at Deepdale.

Tierney has not taken charge of a PNE match since March 2016 when North End won away to Bolton Wanderers.

The referee has shown 21 yellow cards in six games so far this season.

MACS VIEW

Total sell out, they have had a run of decent form, some of our injured are returning, it's live on TV ley's hope we are not 2 down as we were on our last Friday outing