Morten Gamst Pedersen ((45 + 4 mins) mins)
David Dunn (46 mins)
Mauro Formica (79 mins)
Damien Duff (56 mins)
Barclays Premier League
, Jan 14, 2012
Ground: Ewood Park
, Kickoff: 15:00 , Att 18,003
Team news
Kean sees big chance to escape bottom three Blackburn manager Steve Kean admits this weekend's Barclays Premier League fixture schedule looks promising for his team - but is taking nothing for granted.
Rovers, currently bottom of the table, host Fulham while fellow strugglers Bolton (18th) and Wolves (16th) are at Manchester United and Tottenham respectively.
Sunday then sees 17th-placed QPR travel to high-flying Newcastle before second-bottom Wigan take on leaders Manchester City at the DW Stadium on Monday night.
A win could take Blackburn out of the relegation zone if other results go their way and Kean feels there is a "very good chance" Rovers will have their heads above water so long as they seal the three points against the Cottagers.
Having seen his side spring a surprise in recent weeks by drawing 1-1 at Anfield and winning 3-2 at Old Trafford, though, the Scot knows it is risky trying to predict how games will go and insists the focus simply needs to be on the job at Ewood Park.
"We know some of the teams around us have got difficult fixtures this weekend," Kean said. "We also know there can be upsets, though, because people probably looked at our last two away games (in the league) and thought we weren't going to get anything.
"What you can guarantee is looking after your own results.
"We will go into the Fulham game with lots more people available, a good training week under our belt and we know if we can get a positive result, there is a very good chance that we can climb out of the bottom three with plenty of games to go." Blackburn are set to have several key players back, with goalkeeper Paul Robinson (calf), winger Junior Hoilett and central midfielder David Dunn (both hamstring) all in line to make their returns from injury having been in full training this week.
Captain Christopher Samba - who Kean says is not for sale - is also fit again after sitting out the FA Cup defeat at Newcastle last weekend due to an ankle knock and tight hamstring.
After the encouraging results on the road, Rovers were brought crashing back down to earth in their last league outing by a 2-1 home defeat to Stoke.
Fulham boss Martin Jol has praised Blackburn's board for sticking with under-fire Kean.
Owners Venky's and Kean have come under fire from unhappy fans, leading to calls for both to leave the Lancashire outfit.
Jol admits he has never seen anything like it before during his career in professional football and admires the owners for their backing of Kean.
"It is an awkward situation," the Fulham manager said. "Most of the time the club, the board and the owners will give in after a couple of week and we, the managers, are gone.
"But they have stuck with him and you get a different situation.
"I think this could be the first time probably in the history of the Premier League that a board stuck with their manager [under such pressure]. How many times will that happen? "You need time for development as well as results, which is not a good combination.
"Of course as you saw with QPR it is a tough job and people have to make decision like that." Jol was referring to Neil Warnock's sacking as QPR manager earlier this week after a string of poor performances.
Warnock claims he would have kept the R's in the Premier League and Jol believes Kean can do the same if Blackburn stick with him.
"I feel for any manager that is under pressure," he said. "He, of course, needs time.
"He does not necessarily have a young team but there are a few good youngsters there. I think they have been a bit unfortunate.
"Hopefully they will let him get on with his job and then you will see, with his younger players and Yakubu up front, they will be fine." Jol does not necessarily agree this is a good time to be playing Rovers.
"Every game is different," he said. "If you saw them over the last four or five games they were always on the fringe of doing something good, but then they conceded a goal and that was awful for them.
"But it is not easy to play at Manchester United and if you saw that match, they played a 4-5-1 and came away with a good result.
"If you let them play, they have good players on the ball.
Blackburn vs Fulham
Last modified 17:47 14/01/12
Rovers on the up after vital win Ten-man Blackburn brilliantly clawed their way out of the Barclays Premier League relegation zone for the first time in four months with a 3-1 win over Fulham.
The first red card of Ayegbeni Yakubu's nine-year career in English football midway through the first half seemed to add to beleaguered manager Steve Kean's woes.
But Morten Gamst Pedersen and David Dunn struck either side of the interval, and despite Damien Duff pulling one back, substitute Mauro Formica sealed only Rovers' fourth league win of the season.
QPR and Wigan still have to play this weekend, but the fact Rovers sit 17th after this game will at least give Kean encouragement.
The latest fans' protest against owners Venky's outside the ground before kick off was but a sideshow, and completely forgotten about come the final whistle.
The fans, though, are having their say with their feet as just 18,003 turned up at Ewood Park, the worst league crowd for many years.
Those that stayed away, however, missed a rousing performance from Kean's side, who were spurred into action after Yakubu's dismissal.
Bobby Zamora had just planted a header on to the angle of bar and post from a Damien Duff right-wing cross when the complexion of the game changed, albeit in Rovers' favour.
Kean could be seen mouthing 'That's a disgrace' towards referee Anthony Taylor, but the Cheshire official brandished the red card.
In going for a loose ball with Danny Murphy, Yakubu was high with his right boot, and to add to his indiscretion his studs were showing, catching the Fulham midfielder on his right knee.
It means Rovers will be without their leading scorer for the next three matches, all in the league against Everton, Newcastle and Arsenal, with the middle fixture of those on home soil.
Despite that, it was Rovers who went into the break with the lead, and perhaps rightly so as Fulham showed little invention with the extra man.
Zamora did come within inches of turning home a low ball into the six-yard box from Moussa Dembele, and Paul Robinson made a superb save six minutes from the break.
That saw the England international at his best in clawing away a goal-bound header from Philippe Senderos after the defender was allowed to rise unchecked on to a free-kick from Murphy.
But in the fourth minute of injury time Pedersen stroked home his third goal of the season, curling a low 20-yard free-kick beyond the outstretched grasp of David Stockdale after Bryan Ruiz had brought down Dunn.
If Martin Jol had given his players a roasting during the break, it had virtually no time to sink in because just 56 seconds into the second half Blackburn doubled their lead.
Steven Nzonzi's initial drive inside the area was blocked by John Arne Riise, however, the rebound fell to Dunn who struck a piledriver of a shot beyond Stockdale for his first goal since February 5 last year.
Fulham were finally roused, and four minutes later they thought they had pulled one back, only for Clint Dempsey to be narrowly flagged offside in heading home a save from Robinson who had initially palmed away a stinging effort from Riise.
Less than six minutes later, though, they were back in the game, and all too easily at that.
When Murphy played a pass out towards Duff, who was outside the area and 20 yards from goal at that point, there appeared to be no danger.
Duff, however, eased his way into the box and from an acute angle stroked a right-foot drive beyond a static Robinson for his fifth goal of the season, and second in successive games.
Rovers, though, should have restored their two-goal cushion in the 65th minute, only for Stockdale to beat away Junior Hoilett's 12-yard effort after being teed up by Pedersen.
With less than 20 minutes remaining Jol threw on Blackburn target Andrew Johnson for Riise, sacrificing a defender for a striker in a bid to salvage something from the game.
| Player rating out of ten | Player name | Substitution | Did they score? | Player's disciplinary record | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Robinson | ||||
| 35 | Jason Lowe | ||||
| 31 | Grant Hanley | ||||
| 5 | Gael Givet | ||||
| 3 | Martin Olsson | ||||
| 15 | Steven Nzonzi | ||||
| 12 | Morten Gamst Pedersen |
|
|
||
| 8 | David Dunn(sub 68) |
|
|
||
| 14 | Radosav Petrovic(sub 28) |
|
|||
| 23 | David Hoilett | ||||
| 24 | Ayegbeni Yakubu |
|
|||
| Substitutes | |||||
| 13 | Mark Bunn | ||||
| 10 | Mauro Formica(sub 68) |
|
|
||
| 20 | Ruben Rochina | ||||
| 25 | David Goodwillie(sub 28) |
|
|||
| 29 | Simon Vukcevic | ||||
| 33 | Josh Morris | ||||
| 39 | Adam Henley | ||||
| Player rating out of ten | Player name | Did they score? | Player's disciplinary record | Substitution | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | David Stockdale | ||||
| 2 | Stephen Kelly | ||||
| 14 | Philippe Senderos |
|
|||
| 5 | Brede Hangeland | ||||
| 3 | John Arne Riise(sub 72) |
|
|||
| 13 | Danny Murphy | ||||
| 30 | Moussa Dembele(sub 35) |
|
|||
| 23 | Clint Dempsey | ||||
| 16 | Damien Duff |
|
|||
| 25 | Bobby Zamora | ||||
| 11 | Bryan Ruiz | ||||
| Substitutes | |||||
| 21 | Kerim Frei(sub 35)(sub 86) |
|
|||
| 38 | Neil Etheridge | ||||
| 4 | Steve Sidwell | ||||
| 8 | Andrew Johnson(sub 72) |
|
|||
| 10 | Pajtim Kasami | ||||
| 18 | Aaron Hughes | ||||
| 29 | Simon Davies(sub 86) |
|
|||
| Team | Blackburn | Fulham |
|---|
