Preview: Luton Town vs. Blackburn Rovers - prediction, team news, lineups

Luton Town play host to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday afternoon looking for the victory which will move the Hatters further into the Championship playoff picture.

While the home side currently trail their second-placed opponents by 14 points, they possess two games in hand, but Rovers head into this contest having gotten back to winning ways earlier this week.

Match preview

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For the first time in a couple of months, Blackburn have started to lose their way, only posting one win in the four games ahead of Monday's fixture against Middlesbrough.

However, recording a late 1-0 victory over their promotion rivals could prove pivotal come the end of the season, as well as acting as the catalyst to really kick on over the coming weeks.

In the absence of Ben Brereton Diaz, Sam Gallagher scored the only goal of the game at Ewood Park, ending a three-month wait for his sixth of the campaign in the process.

Having played one more fixture than their immediate rivals, Tony Mowbray will know that his team cannot afford to get carried away, although there should be no danger of that with several fellow promotion candidates to come over the next four games.

While Blackburn possess the best home record in the division, their next opponents Luton are not far behind having lost just three times in 13 outings at Kenilworth Road.

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Luton's five-match unbeaten streak in all competitions came to an end when they lost at Sheffield United last weekend, but they responded with a hard-fought success against Bristol City three days later.

The returning Tom Lockyer opened the scoring, before Elijah Adebayo chipped in with his 11th Championship goal of the campaign to secure all three points for the Hatters after the Robins had previously equalised.

Nathan Jones's team are not considered to be a realistic candidate for promotion, but that perception is a disservice to how they have gone about their business this season.

With eight games to be played in all competitions before the end of February, the fitness of this squad will be tested, although the momentum generated from a win over the second-placed team in the division would have the clubs above them sitting up and taking notice.

Team News

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Jones must decide whether to hand a second successive appearance to Lockyer and Luke Berry, both of whom made their returns from injury in midweek.

Reece Burke is available again after serving a one-match suspension, while Fred Onyedinma is an alternative for Admiral Muskwe in the final third.

Brereton Diaz will remain absent for Blackburn as he remains on international duty with Chile, leaving Gallagher to feature from the start for a second game in succession.

Barring any unforeseen selection issues, Mowbray may stick with the same Blackburn side from the Boro fixture.

However, Joe Rothwell should be back in contention after a back issue, leaving Bradley Johnson at risk of dropping down to the substitutes' bench.

Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Shea; Lockyer, Osho, Naismith; Bree, Berry, Rea, Mpanzu, Bell; Adebayo, Muskwe

Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Kaminski; Lenihan, Van Hecke, Wharton; Nyambe, Travis, Rothwell, Edun; Buckley; Khadra, Gallagher

We say: Luton Town 1-2 Blackburn Rovers

This has all the makings of a very competitive game, and Luton will fancy their chances of causing the upset after their previous efforts against automatic promotion contenders at Kenilworth Road. Nevertheless, we cannot back against Rovers while they occupy an automatic promotion spot, leading us to predict a narrow win for the visitors.

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