Blackburn Rovers Saturday 7 November 2015 Ewood Park Kick-off: 3pm
The Season so far
This Saturday afternoon, Brentford meet Rovers in the league in consecutive seasons for the first time in 62 years. The last set of back-to-back fixtures were in 1951/52 and 1952/53, also in England’s second tier.
After only picking up four points from their first seven games, consistency has been hard to come by for Gary Bowyer’s men. Like The Bees (10), Rovers have scored as many goals at home as away (7) but have only conceded four at Ewood Park this season. The Blue and Whites also went out of the League Cup in the First Round, losing 2-1 to Shrewsbury.
Danny Guthrie and Hope Akpan were both signed from Reading in August, along with Nathan Delfouneso [Blackpool]. Tom Lawrence [Leicester City] and Modou Barrow [Swansea City] were brought in on loan, although Barrow has already been recalled.
Leon Best, Paul Robinson, Jake Kean and Luke Varney all left the club over the summer as their contracts came to an end. Rudy Gestede departed for Aston Villa, with Josh Morris [Bradford City] and Tom Cairney [Fulham] also heading for the exit.
David Dunn ended a 27-year association with Rovers last season, seeing out his contract to then sign for Oldham Athletic.
The Gaffer
Gary Bowyer signed for Hereford United as a teenager in 1989, before moving to Nottingham Forest a year later but he never made a senior appearance at the City Ground. Shortly after arriving at Rotherham United, his playing career was cut short by injury.
He began his management career at non-league Carshalton Athletic in 1998, before spending six years as Under-17 coach at Derby County. In 2004, Blackburn Rovers appointed him as a coach for their Under-18 side. He was put in charge of the First Team on a permanent basis in May 2013, after two spells as caretaker following the dismissals of Henning Berg and Michael Appleton.
The Officials
Match Referee: Andy Woolmer
Assistant Referees: Justin Amey and David Storrie
Fourth Official: Richard Clark
Last Five Meetings
17 March 2015: Championship. Blackburn 2-3 Brentford.
Goals from Chris Long, Jota and Andre Gray helped The Bees come from behind to win on the road last season.
13 December 2014: Championship. Brentford 3-1 Blackburn.
Jonathan Douglas’ opening goal was cancelled out by Rudy Gestede, then Gray and Jota added the winners in the second half.
24 September 1996: League Cup. Blackburn 2-0 Brentford.
Former Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood was on the scoresheet as Rovers cruised through to the Second Round of the competition, back when each Coca-Cola Cup fixture was played across two legs.
17 September 1996: League Cup. Brentford 1-2 Blackburn.
Goals from Garry Flitcroft and Chris Sutton gave the away side an early lead. Nicky Forster responded for The Bees when he volleyed one into the net at the Ealing Road end before half time. Barry Ashby was denied late on by goalkeeper Tim Flowers as the hosts dominated the closing stages.
18 February 1989: FA Cup. Blackburn 0-2 Brentford
After wins against Halesowen Town, Peterborough United, Walsall and Manchester City, two goals from Gary Blissett set up a Sixth Round tie with Liverpool.
Ticket news
Visit the Blackburn Rovers ticket information page for more details. You can hear live match commentary of the entire match from Griffin Park on Bees Player from 2.30pm on Saturday, with commentators Mark Burridge, Ben Burgess and Mark Chapman.