BIG MATCH PREVIEW | BLACKBURN ROVERS (AWAY)

28 March 2018

Simon Grayson's Bantams travel to Ewood Park this Thursday (29 March 2018) evening to take on Blackburn Rovers in a televised Sky Bet League One fixture.

In front of the Sky Sports cameras, Grayson's men will be looking to build on last Saturday's win over Gillingham by securing another positive result against title-chasing Rovers.

Victory for City would see them move to within one point of the play-off spots, while success for Blackburn would put them back into top spot in the League One table.

Thursday's fixture at Ewood Park will be City's first of two games in five days, with Walsall set to travel to the Northern Commercials Stadium on Easter Monday.

For Blackburn, their encounter with the Bantams will be their first league fixture in nineteen days following a postponed game at Gillingham and recent international call-ups.

The match at Ewood Park will be City's first visit there in over 28 years.

City's most recent trip to Blackburn finished in a 2-2 draw on New Year's Day 1990.

Team News

Blackburn Rovers
Ryan Nyambe is set to miss out on Thursday's contest with City after picking up an injury in Rovers' last outing against Blackpool earlier this month.

Loanee winger Harry Chapman has returned to parent club Middlesbrough for treatment on a recurring hamstring problem.

Rovers boss Tony Mowbray says he will leave it as late as possible before making a decision on whether to select skipper Charlie Mulgrew.

The experienced defender played ninety minutes as recently as this Tuesday evening for Scotland in their friendly victory over Hungary.

Bradford City
Charlie Wyke is back available to Bantams boss Simon Grayson after serving out a three-match suspension.

Ryan McGowan (knee) and Jake Reeves (groin) are both still sidelined, while Matthew Lund is expected to miss out once again with a hamstring problem.

Tyrell Robinson is unlikely to be involved as well due to a groin injury.

Alex Jones is to see a specialist over an issue with his ankle.

Earlier this season

Saturday 19 August 2017
Sky Bet League One
Bradford City 0
Blackburn Rovers 1 (Samuel 47)

BRADFORD CITY LINE UP:
Doyle, McMahon, Kilgallon, Knight-Percival, Field, Law, Dieng, Reeves, McCartan (Wyke 69), Patrick (Jones 69), Poleon (Taylor 69)

Subs not used: Sattelmaier, Gilliead, Devine, Barr

BLACKBURN ROVERS LINE UP:
Raya, Caddis, Ward, Mulgrew, Williams, Smallwood, Evans, Bennett, Dack (Gladwin 63), Conway (Whittingham 79), Samuel (Antonsson 79)

Subs not used: Leutwiler, Graham, Chapman, Wharton

Tickets
Match tickets remain on sale for the Blackburn game from City's ticket office at the Northern Commercials Stadium.

Tickets can also be purchased online - HERE.

Pre-match admission prices for the Blackburn match are:

Adults - £24.00
Seniors - £17.00 (65 and over)
18-21 year-olds - £17.00
12-17 year-olds - £8.00
Under 12s - £6.00

Disabled fans will be asked to pay the age related prices from the list above.

They will also be entitled to a free carers' ticket

Blackburn will be offering a pay on the day option to City supporters on Thursday night but prices will increase.

Tickets will be available at the away end ticket office (by the Bryan Douglas Darwen End) from 6:00pm.

Match-day admission prices will be:

Adults - £26.00
Seniors - £19.00 (65 and over)
Young Adults - 18-21 - £19.00
Juniors - £9.00 - (12-17 year-olds)
Under 12s - £7.00

Under 12 tickets can only be purchased with an accompanying adult.

Disabled fans will be asked to pay the age-related cost.

They will also be entitled to a free carer subject to being in receipt of DLA or PIP at the mid or enhanced rate.

Any City fans collecting tickets at Blackburn will also use the away ticket office.

Away Guide
Please click HERE for the Away Fans' Guide to Ewood Park.

Match Officials
Referee Christopher Sarginson will take charge of City's Thursday night encounter with Blackburn Rovers. Mr Sarginson has officiated thirty-seven matches so far this season, mainly at Sky Bet League One and League Two level. Two of those fixtures this season included the Bantams - the 2-2 away draw at Oxford United and the 1-1 home draw with Oldham Athletic. The two assistant referees on Thursday are scheduled to be Anthony Moore and Ravel Cheosiaua. The fourth official at Ewood Park will be Darren Handley.

Kit Colours
The Bantams will wear their first choice strip of claret and amber at Ewood Park on Thursday night.

Manager Pre-Match Thoughts
City boss Simon Grayson spoke to iFollow Bantams ahead of Thursday's trip to Ewood Park.

Supporters can see a snippet of the pre-match interview below:

The FULL video interview with Grayson can be found on iFollow Bantams - HERE.

Back the Bantams
City supporters can back the Bantams for success at Blackburn Rovers with Sky Bet!

City are currently priced at 6/1 to defeat Blackburn at the Ewood Park.

The Bantams are also priced at 22/1 to beat Blackburn by a 2-1 scoreline.

Dominic Poleon is available at 17/2 to opening the scoring, while Shay McCartan can be backed at 11/4 to score at anytime during the game.

Fans can place their bets now with Sky Bet by clicking HERE.

Please note, odds are subject to change.

Coverage
For those unable to get to Ewood Park on Thursday, City supporters can follow live updates from the Blackburn Rovers game via the club's official website, plus Facebook and Twitter pages.

City's Facebook and Twitter pages will include game updates on match-day, while the 'Match Centre' on the official website will give supporters all the stats, news and in-game action.

Full audio match commentary of the Blackburn match can be found via iFollow Bantams. Keep up to date with BBC Radio Leeds' Tim Steere for match action and reaction from the game.

Video post-match interviews from Simon Grayson and his players, plus extended match highlights over the coming days, are also available via iFollow.

On top of all that, iFollow subscribers can get interviews, action, previous encounters and highlights as well in the build up to Thursday's match.

The official website, Twitter and Facebook pages will also have post-match reaction from the City camp following the Blackburn game.

iFollow Bantams - HERE
Match Centre - HERE
Facebook - HERE
Twitter - HERE

Match Previews

Match Reports

REPORT | BLACKBURN PROVE TOO MUCH FOR BATTLING BANTAMS

29 March 2018

Despite a battling effort from Simon Grayson's Bantams, Blackburn Rovers' title-chasing quality eventually shone through to ensure City's first visit to Ewood Park in over twenty-eight years ended in defeat.

Grayson's men had showed great resolve to hold off Blackburn until the interval, but second half strikes from Bradley Dack and substitute Craig Conway proved enough to secure a 2-0 win for the one-time Premier League champions.

The victory for Blackburn moved the hosts back to the top of the Sky Bet League One table, strengthening their automatic promotion chances, while City will now look to their home match with Walsall on Easter Monday to rekindle their push for a play-off place.

Free from suspension after a three-game ban, Charlie Wyke partnered last Saturday's match-winner Dominic Poleon up top in the only change made by Grayson from the starting XI that began against Gillingham last time out.

Roared on by an away support of nearly 1,700, City tried to make a positive start to the contest but in-form Blackburn were clearly keen to make up for lost time.

Rovers, who had won five of their last six games going into Thursday's encounter, hadn't actually played in nineteen days previously due to a postponed game and recent international call-ups.

Matthew Kilgallon was required to make an important block after the ball had dropped invitingly into the path of Elliott Bennett in just the second minute.

Corry Evans went closer for Rovers fifteen minutes in when he won possession deep inside City's area but Colin Doyle made a bright save from the midfielder's angled shot.

Rovers kept pushing at this stage, and Marcus Antonsson perhaps should have scored minutes later when he planted a header wide of the far post from Richie Smallwood's free-kick delivery into the box.

City were having to dig deep as the opening half reached its halfway point.

From one Blackburn corner, Nathaniel Knight-Percival was required head away from off his own line before Antonsson and Dack then saw shots deflect off the woodwork in quick succession.

Having started with a back three in a 3-5-2 formation, City moved to a 4-3-3 shape as the first period progressed.

Rovers continued on the front-foot up until the interval, but the changes for City did seem to help their efforts to repel the hosts.

Adam Armstrong fired wide from outside the box and Dominic Samuel struck straight at Doyle with a later effort, but City held strong going into the break.

Rovers kept probing for an opening after the restart but wayward efforts from Samuel and Antonsson was the closest they came in the first fifteen minutes of the half.

Just past the hour mark a low cross from Armstrong bounced out into the path of Evans inside the box but the midfielder's goal-bound shot was repelled by the frame of Knight-Percival.

Shortly afterwards, City brought on Omari Patrick and Shay McCartan for Dominic Poleon and Alex Gilliead in attempt to injection more potentancy into their attacking play.

The pair had only been on the pitch a few minutes, however, when Rovers finally broke through the City defences.

Dack was played into space behind City's back-line and the talented Rovers attacker showed commendable composure to ram the ball home past Doyle.

The goal was understandably a huge blow to the Bantams, who perhaps had just started to get to the stage where they believed a hard-fought point could be possible.

With Timothee Dieng now on the pitch as replacing fellow midfielder Callum Guy, Rovers then made sure of the points nine minutes from the end of normal time.

From a swift attack forward, Armstrong's shot for goal was blocked by the leg of Kilgallon but an unmarked Conway was on hand to crash in past Doyle by his near post.

Despite the scoreline and the clock being against them, City - to their credit - kept looking for a way to get themselves on the scoresheet.

Patrick fired wide while in space just outside the box, with the sub then going even closer a few minutes later when headed over from a decent position after connecting with a Dieng cross.

It wasn't to be City's game, though, and Grayson's men must now turn their attentions to Easter Monday's home match with Walsall.

Match Reports

BRADFORD CITY AFC

Standings

BIG MATCH PREVIEW | BLACKBURN ROVERS (AWAY)

REPORT | BLACKBURN PROVE TOO MUCH FOR BATTLING BANTAMS