Blackburn Rovers most recent Championship match saw them defeating Reading with a lonely goal from Craig Conway at the 36^th minute. Reading enjoyed having the better half of possession throughout the entire match but it was not enough for them to score a single goal against the side of Gary Bowyer.

Reading launched a total of 18 shots against the goalkeeper of Blackburn Rovers, Paul Robinson but none of them actually caused much danger to the veteran shot-stopper. Rovers on the other hand fired fewer shots but they still managed on scoring the goal that gave them all 3 points and the crucial victory.

It was an important triumph for Gary Bowyer’s side as his team continues surfing the middle section of the standings.

Bowyer expressed his satisfaction as he saw his team overcome Reading at the Madejski Stadium.

Bowyer said: “It’s a great win as it’s a difficult place to come and they are a very good team who will be in the shake up for the play-offs, if not automatic promotion’’.

“They’ve scored seven and five here recently but the lads took that challenge on, scored a great goal on the counter-attack and their goalie has made a couple of good saves in the first half’’.

“We were pleased with how we went about it and we kicked on in the second half to keep that clean sheet. We had to match everything they threw at us and I thought the lads showed great character and spirit.”

The manager of Reading, Nigel Adkins admitted that Rovers displayed great spirit and that they indeed deserved to win but he also had a few things to say concerning a penalty set-piece which was not awarded to his team.

Adkins said: “It was a clear penalty but give Blackburn credit they had something to hold on to, which they did. They showed great spirit so I’m not going to take anything away from them.”

Bournemouth and Blackburn Rovers will be facing each other for the first time in nine years this week, and Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has said that he is very much looking forward to the match. Back in 2004, the two sides met each other in the League cup. Bournemouth managed to stun their opposition, who were in the Premier league back then, by beating them on penalties. Howe was playing for Bournemouth back then, and he is now managing the club. He has said that he has fond memories of the game because they played extremely well.

Bournemouth and Blackburn managed a 3-3 draw and the game went into penalties. Bournemouth managed to win the match courtesy of the winning penalty from Howe after the shootout had gone into sudden death. Bournemouth had managed a 7-6 victory on penalties. Howe has said that he has always regarded the match as the best ever he had in a Bournemouth shirt. Now, he is looking to repeat the feat as a manager knowing that Blackburn are not in the best of shapes right now. Blackburn have since been relegated from the Premier league into the Championship and they are in the mid-table right now.

Gary Bowyer’s men come into this match on the back of a winless run of three matches.

“When you play well, you tend to remember it and forget the bad games. I have good memories, let’s hope we have some more on Saturday. I didn’t want to take a penalty, it was not one of my strengths, thankfully Tugay missed and that took the pressure off and I didn’t have anything to lose. It was a fantastic advert, we showed great character which was a hallmark of that 2004 team and is also a hallmark of this team,” said Howe.