Team news

Blackburn preview
Benni McCarthy has returned to training ahead of Blackburn's home Barclays Premier League match against Portsmouth.

The South African striker is back in the Rovers fold after recovering from swine flu.

But boss Sam Allardyce, who has virtually a full squad to choose from, is contemplating selling McCarthy in January.

Allardyce said: "I think Benni has made it clear through his agent this week that he would like to see if there is anybody out there who would be wanting to take him and play him on a more regular basis than we are.

"As always when you have a player who is a little unhappy you will always look at the situation and makes sure that it suits you first, and if it does then it can get done. I understand the frustration and I have explained the situation not just to him but to everybody.

"David Dunn has been by far the most productive player in the team, he's basically stolen Benni's position and that's way it is at the moment.

"David has been doing fantastically well and he's been one of the main reasons why our home form has been that of a top-six side. It's a different kettle of fish away from home of course, where we look like a relegation side."

Portsmouth preview
Portsmouth midfielder Aaron Mokoena admits would love to see his former Blackburn team-mate join him at Fratton Park.

Pompey have been linked with the hitman and while Mokoena knows manager Paul Hart has the final say, he feels his fellow countryman could fire the Fratton Park outfit to safety.

He said: "Benni has been there, done it and he has experience. It would be good to have him on board but obviously, it's up to the manager.

"He's a fantastic player - he has played in the Champions League and won the Champions League. It would be good to have him, but like I said, it's up to the gaffer." Portsmouth will be without injury-plagued right-back Steve Finnan.

The Irishman is suffering with a muscle problem, but striker Frederic Piquionne should be available despite being carried off against Wigan last Saturday after taking a knock to his neck.

Papa Bouba Diop (hamstring) and Hermann Hreidarsson (foot tendon) are still on the road to recovery and will not play at Ewood Park.

Blackburn 3-1 Portsmouth

Last modified 09:48 09/11/09

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Ah, the Premier League, the envy of the world. Tantilising talent, sublime skill, breathtaking beauty, pulsating pace and endless excitement. Meanwhile...

Yep, you know what’s coming next. In this encounter, we saw precisely none of the above. And I’ll tell you this too, neither Sam Allardyce nor Paul Hart will offer a single apology for that, because they know there is too much at stake to be bothered with such niceties.

The top-flight in England can boast such an array of dazzling attractions because of the money it generates through its TV audience throughout the world. But become uncoupled from that gravy train, and the consequences are unthinkable... especially for clubs in such precarious financial positions as Blackburn and Portsmouth.

Even without asking, you know that there is a genuine fear - make that terror - in both club’s boardrooms about what would happen should they be relegated, because those balls they somehow manage to keep in the air would fall out of the sky faster than a Usain Bolt sneeze.

Listen to Allardyce for a few minutes, and the significance of this game, even at this relatively early stage of the season, was painfully evident. It is not just their tenure in the Premier League that is at stake, but perhaps the whole future of their clubs. Under those circumstances, is it any wonder this was a dour contest, as Allardyce recognised with a brutal truth afterwards.

“You could see the nerves in our performance in the first half, but there was immense pressure because everyone knows what’s at stake in games like these,” the Rovers boss explained.

“We are really aware of everything that is at stake here at the club. If we’d lost we would go bottom, get there and it can take a long, long time to get away from that.

“When you are in this position as a club, you have to fight and fight to get away from it. It’s not about the football, the style, it’s about fighting to get where you want, fighting for what you want - and for us at this moment in time, that is to get out of the bottom three and getting more points than games played.”

Rovers fought alright, after a first half display that Allardyce described as “dire". They trailed to a wonderful Jamie O’Hara strike from fully 32 yards after 16 minutes, and struggled so badly that they were viciously booed by their own fans at half-time.

It could have been even worse than that though. No matter which way you look at it - and Allardyce viewed through glasses not so much rose-tinted as one-eyed - Pascal Chimbonda should have been sent off for slapping a hand in the face of O’Hara. That would clearly have changed the whole face of the game.

Ref Andre Marriner though, transformed from the hanging judge of last week to a lily-livered liberal, allowed Rovers the chance of comeback they took gratefully, with the introduction of Benni McCarthy and the influential Jason Roberts at half time.

The pair destroyed Portsmouth at set pieces, with Roberts in particular capitalising, when he first turned onto a knock down by the towering Ryan Nelsen on 53 minutes, before finishing the job three minutes from time by cutely converting a fine McCarthy cross.

In between Nelsen headed home - too easily - from David Dunn’s corner, as Rovers staged an improbabe comeback based on their first half form, with Dunn orchestrating proceedings.

But it was Roberts who made the vital impact of the game, and Allardyce admitted that in these trying circumstances he wants the striker to revert to the basics that sides in Blackburn’s position must pursue with some menace.

“He won’t like me for saying this, but I want him to be the ugly bulldog, snapping and snarling at defenders and making their life hell,” the Rovers boss said, revealing the desperate nature of his club’s position in the process.

For his part, Roberts made a point with his contribution. Allardyce has spoken about the prospect of him and McCarthy leaving in the next transfer window after both lost their place in the side, and the striker emphatically made a case for a more regular berth.

“You are always frustrated when you are not playing. I’m one of the worst for that. But at the same time I know what I’m capable of,” he said.

“I’m quite confident in what I can do. It’s been hard but what does a good pro do these days? Do you get upset or do you settle for it. I always want to play, when I don’t play I’m not happy.

“I’ve not been in the best of moods recently. I’ll have to see if I’ll be here in January. I want to play football. The manager has decisions to make in terms of formations and personnel.”

As for Pompey, their failure to deal with set pieces exposed a weakness that could get them relegated, which would be a disaster given their desperate financial plight.

Manager Hart has created an attractive enough side from a group of foreign mercenaries, but do they have the heart for the battle at the bottom of the Premier League?

“We were in control, and to lose three goals from three set pieces is so disappointing. It’s pretty difficult to come here and play flowing football - and don’t say that with any snobbery value, it’s just the way it is, we knew that, and then we gave them the goals from set pieces,” Hart said.

“But we have been playing well, and could have got out of the bottom three. Still a lot of teams around us, and still got plenty of opportunity to push on from here, because the team is only just coming together.”

Blackburn: Robinson 6; Chimbonda 5, Samba 7, Nelsen 7, Givet 6; Diouf 5 (McCarthy 46, 7), Emerton 6, Nzonzi 6, Pedersen 5 (Roberts 46, 8); Dunn 7; Di Santo 6 (Andrews 84).

Portsmouth: James 7; Vanden Borre 6 Kaboul 6, Wilson 6, Ben Haim 5; Brown 6, Mokoena 7 (Kanu 75, 5), Boateng 6, O’Hara 6; Piquionne 5, Dindane 6 (Smith 51, 5).