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. please log in to view this image FORM GUIDE PNE 13 BLACKBURN 13 please log in to view this image They had been on a good run but lost last time out Newbies and inform please log in to view this image
Team News please log in to view this image 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 please log in to view this image 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 please log in to view this image 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.
