Blackburn v Reading

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Blackburn v Reading

Ewood Park
Saturday, 20 October
Kick-off: 1500 BST
Coverage on the BBC Sport website, BBC Radio Five Live & highlights on Match of the Day. Featured game on Score and Final Score.



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Team news to follow later.









BIG-MATCH FACTS
Blackburn are looking to complete three Premier League victories on the bounce for the first time since New Year's Day.

Reading are hoping to complete back-to-back league wins for the first time this season, in Steve Coppell's 200th match in charge.

There was a share of the spoils from this fixture last season. Three times Rovers took the lead in the closing day clash, and three times the battling Royals equalised.


CLUB FORM
BLACKBURN ROVERS


Club stats
Fixtures
Highest achievable after Saturday's matches: 4th
Lowest could fall: 9th

1. Won the last four in all competitions.

2. The busiest of all Premier League clubs this season. This is their 16th match in league and cup.

3. Won 50% of their Premier League matches (four of eight).

5. Lost just one league game this season; 0-1, home to Portsmouth on 23 September.

5. The current tally of 15 points after eight matches is their best start since the 1997-98 season when they eventually finished sixth.

6. Owning the second lowest aggregate in the Premier League. Their eight games have produced 15 goals; nine for, six against. Only Manchester United's nine games have been less productive, yielding 13 goals.

7. Completed 25 Premier League matches since last recording three successive victories, against Liverpool (h, 26 December), Middlesbrough (h, 30 December) and Wigan (a, 1 January 2007).

8. Used fewer players in the Premier League competition than any other club, with the exception of Aston Villa. Both have fielded just 17.

9. Won five of six home games in all competitions, including the last three.

READING


Club stats
Fixtures
Highest achievable after Saturday's matches: 10th
Lowest could fall: 16th

1. Lost four of the last six Premier League matches.

2. Won a third of their league matches (three of nine).

3. Conceded two goals a game on average (18 in nine).

4. Completed 11 Premier League matches since achieving successive league wins on 30 April, when nine points out of nine were claimed; beating Fulham (h), Bolton (a) and Newcastle (h).

5. On the longest current run in the Premier League of nine matches since a score draw.

6. Shipped 18 Premier League goals. Only Derby have conceded more (22).

7. Only club without a goal in the first quarter of Premier League matches (opening 22 minutes). Their earliest goal was scored in the 29th minute (Dave Kitson, home to Wigan on 22 September).

8. Three points worse off year on year.

9. One of eight clubs still searching for a first away win in the Premier League this season. Indeed only one of their 10 points has been picked up on the road.

10. Lost the last three away league games, conceding 12 goals in the process; the most recent was the 7-4 reverse at Portsmouth on 29 September.


KEY PLAYER NOTES
BLACKBURN ROVERS


Roque SANTA CRUZ is Blackburn's top scorer with five goals, and leading Premier League marksman with three.

Brad FRIEDEL has made 122 consecutive Premier League appearances for Blackburn, in a sequence that started at the beginning of the 2004-05 season.

David DUNN needs a hat-trick to total 50 career club goals (Blackburn and Birmingham).

David BENTLEY has scored in three of Blackburn's last four games in all competitions.

Only BENTLEY and FRIEDEL have played every minute of every one of Blackburn's league and cup matches this season.

READING


Dave KITSON is Reading's top scorer with three Premier League goals.

KITSON is a hat-trick shy of 50 league goals in Reading colours.

Leroy LITA needs to score one to total 50 career league goals (Bristol City and Reading).

Midfielder James HARPER is the only player to have been on the field for every minute of every one of Reading's league and cup matches this season.

If selected:-

HARPER will be making his 250th career league appearance (Cardiff and Reading).


HEAD TO HEAD
Rovers have only beaten Reading once at Ewood Pk - a 4-2 win on 19 April 1980 in the old 3rd Division.

Reading have met Blackburn eight times in their league history and beaten them just once; prevailing 4-0 at Elm Park at second league level on 4 October 1986.

Home and away
League (inc PL): Blackburn 2 wins, Reading 1, Draws 5
Prem: Blackburn 1 win, Reading 0, Draws 1

at Blackburn only
League (inc PL): 1 win, Reading 0, Draws 3
Prem: Blackburn 0 wins, Reading 0, Draws 1


LAST SEASON'S CORRESPONDING GAME
Blackburn Rovers 3-3 Reading
13 May 2007 - Ref: Alan Wiley
Blackburn scorers: McCarthy 21, Bentley 56, Derbyshire 67
Reading scorers: Ki-Hyeon 36, Doyle 58, Gunnarsson 77


REFEREE
Andre Marriner (West Midlands)

Premier League referees' table
Andre Marriner's 2007-08 Premier League card count

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Blackburn 4-2 Reading
By Jamie Lillywhite



McCarthy formed a deadly partnership with Santa Cruz
Two goals from Benni McCarthy helped Blackburn to an impressive victory.

Three strikes in 14 first-half minutes put Rovers in command, McCarthy firing in the opener from a narrow angle.

With the home side playing some neat football, Roque Santa Cruz finished off an intricate move, quickly followed by a 30-yard thunderbolt from Tugay.

As Blackburn faded, Kevin Doyle twice headed in from close range either side of McCarthy drilling in a penalty after substitute Matt Derbyshire was fouled.

Reading had never previously won at Ewood Park and it quickly became apparent that unfortunate record was not going to change in this fixture.

After a low-key start, Royals keeper Marcus Hahnemann had to keep out long range efforts from Christopher Samba and David Bentley but it was not long before Rovers took the lead.

Brett Emerton's deep cross from the right was headed back across goal by Santa Cruz for McCarthy to volley in acrobatically at the far post.

Some intricate one-touch build-up play allowed David Dunn to thread a pass through to Santa Cruz who drilled a low shot through Hahnemann.

With Reading offering little in attack it was the home side who looked most likely to score again, and it came in the form of another memorable strike from Turkish midfielder Tugay.

The 37-year-old fired a swerving 30-yard effort that dipped late, although Hahnemann would have been disappointed not to get a touch on the ball in an awkward-looking effort.

606: DEBATE
Great result today, only slightly disappointed we let in two the other end, but good to have the strikers scoring regularly.

beardash

Reading clearly needed to get something back before the break, and Andre Bikey spurned a golden opportunity six yards out when he headed a neat cross from Dave Kitson straight at Brad Friedel with the goal at his mercy.

Indeed there might have been another for Rovers before the interval, with Samba heading a David Bentley corner wide when unchallenged at the far post.

Blackburn's impressive strikeforce combined well again in the early seconds of the second half when a neat lay-off from Santa Cruz found McCarthy in space but his 20-yard effort, although slightly deflected, was straight at Hahnemann and held by the goalkeeper.

Reading boss Steve Coppell, who had watched the first half from the stand with increasing disenchantment, brought on England Under 21 striker Leroy Lita at the interval and his 20-yard strike was smartly pushed aside by Friedel.

With Blackburn unable to maintain the tempo Michael Duberry headed against the bar for the visitors and a lunging Steve Hunt was just unable to divert Ibrahima Sonko's header into the net two yards out.

Coppell's men deservedly got on the scoresheet when Doyle brushed off the attentions of the Rovers defence to nod in.

After McCarthy's penalty following a trip by Ibrahim Sonko negated any hope of a dramatic comeback, Doyle gave the scoreline respectability with another close-range header.



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Blackburn boss Mark Hughes:
We played some great stuff, especially in the first half, with some excellent attacking play.
It's always hard coming out again and our intensity dropped but apart from that we were excellent.

There's a lot of confidence in the squad.


Reading manager Steve Coppell:
It's me, it's my fault. I chose the wrong way of playing, 100%.
I fiddled around with the team and the consequences were all too evident.

At half-time we changed to a more familiar shape and did a lot better.