Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce set for touchline return - in time to renew rivalry with Rafa Benitez

Rafa Benitez could be confronted by his bogey man Sam Allardyce on the touchline at Ewood Park today.

Big Sam returns from his minor heart op to face his most bitter rival in the Liverpool boss.

The pair have been feuding since Allardyce inflicted Benitez's first loss in English football five years ago and most recently the Blackburn boss accused the Spaniard of making a dismissive gesture towards him during Liverpool's win at Anfield last season.

Allardyce will begin the match in the directors box and No 2 Neil McDonald says he may come down to the dug-out to go toe-to-toe with Benitez.

"He'll be upstairs on his earpiece shouting and bawling in my ear as usual," he said. "If he needs to come down then he can, but we'll see.

"It's a rivalry that's good. Sam's pitting his wits against Benitez and we're all looking forward to the game."  

Allardyce is proud that he never lost at the Reebok to Benitez and McDonald claims he knows how to get under his skin.

"He's taken points off him on a regular basis, home and away," he said. "He causes problems with his game plan, he tries to stop them from playing, and plays  to his strengths.

"If that means putting the ball into the box then that's what we do. If it means scoring from free-kicks, then we do that. If it means playing them off the park, we try and do that.

"Bolton always used to beat Liverpool at the Reebok, and Arsenal as well. Arsene Wenger used to take his tie off and that's when we knew we were going to  win the game.

"It's a fantastic game for him to come back for and he loves pitting his wits against the top four teams."

McDonald claims Allardyce will shake Benitez's hand despite being angry at what he saw as a snub by the Liverpool manager last season when he made what he felt was a 'game over' gesture to him.

He claims it is not in Big Sam's nature to sulk like Arsene Wenger did at Manchester City.

"I can honestly say that in the games we've played, Sam shakes hands," said McDonald. "He makes a big deal of that.

"He's an advocate of always coming in after the game to share feelings and say well done, or we played really well today."

McDonald says Blackburn face Liverpool on a high after beating Chelsea in the Carling Cup at Ewood, where they have lost just twice in 22 games under Allardyce.

"We're making it a fortress again," he said. "We've only lost against Aston Villa and Man City since the manager arrived, so we've got to try and keep that going.

"It gives us huge confidence to know we've beaten the best team in the Premier League, albeit in the Carling Cup on penalties. It gives us huge confidence that we can compete against anyone."