Blackburn will look to build on a run of positive performances against a revived Bristol City

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Tony Mowbray has seen a positive shift in performance since a system change stopped Blackburn’s losing run, but he’ll want to turn that into a home win against Bristol City.

Despite a 1-0 defeat in their recent game against Brentford, the positive signs that have shown since their victory against Millwall a couple of weeks ago are still present in Blackburn’s play.

A front three of Sam Gallagher, Tyrhys Dolan and Ben Brereton has reinvigorated Rovers with Dolan playing a false nine role to great effect.

However, they were dealt a major blow as another key player in their return to form, Bradley Dack, looks to have another long-term injury after being taken off against Brentford.

Mowbray is hopeful that Lewis Holtby will be fit for selection for this one, although Adam Armstrong is expected to miss out as he continues his recovery from injury.

The long injury list that has plagued Blackburn’s season continues to grow with the likes of Jacob Davenport, Daniel Ayala and Scott Wharton still out of the picture.

For the visitors, they have won two of their last four under Nigel Pearson with an impressive 3-0 victory away at Birmingham putting them back on the winning track.

Pearson has been able to call upon the likes of Marley Watkins and Callum O’Dowda since his arrival, replacing Dean Holden, as they returned to the frame from injury which has added another dimension to their attack.

The Robins are hopeful that Zak Vyner and Adam Nagy will be available for selection after they missed the trip to Birmingham following head knocks in their defeat at QPR.

Bristol City will continue to look to the likes of Kasey Palmer and Famara Diedhiou to provide the quality in the final third to cause Blackburn problems, whilst Tomas Kalas and Adrian Mariappa will continue their partnership in central defence.

There has been a reliance on Nakhi Wells and Diedhiou to provide the goals for Pearson’s side this season with both returning eight goals so far, and they will be the main outlets in this one, with Antoine Semenyo the creator on the right hand side.

Blackburn have looked much more dynamic and purposeful in their attacking play since that Millwall win and will look to Tom Trybull in central midfield to provide the link between defence and attack to get the ball into the final third efficiently on the counter.

Without Dack, there will be a lot more responsibility for Dolan up top as their partnership and movement was the main cause of disruption in opposition backlines with even Marc Guedi, who is having a fantastic season for Swansea, struggling to deal with it.

Mowbray will hope that if he is fit, Lewis Holtby will provide that spark and energy in the middle of the park in order to allow Dolan to do what he is best at.

In turn this will give Brereton and Gallagher a license to run in behind from wide and stretch the Bristol City backline, opening up opportunities for themselves.

What Blackburn have to be aware of is their concentration and composure levels at the back.

They have been culpable on a number of occasions of playing slack passes when building out from the back or feeding a ball into a midfield, to a player who is already under intense pressure, ending in a turnover in possession.

That cannot be the case against a team with the attacking outlets that Bristol City have.

Brentford were ruthless in taking their opportunity when the backline were not composed and they need to ensure the same does not happen here.

Having said that, this one is too close to call but if either team picks up a victory it will serve as a major confidence boost heading into the latter stages of the campaign.

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