Southampton square off against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday afternoon looking to strengthen their hold of fourth place in the Championship standings.
Meanwhile, the home side head into this encounter with the opportunity to move further clear of the relegation zone, the current gap being five points.
Match preview
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After initially putting together a half-a-season unbeaten run, Southampton have well and truly dropped off the pace in recent weeks.
Four defeats have been posted in their last eight fixtures, with two of their three victories during that time coming in games where they have conceded at least twice.
Despite no clean sheet coming in six contests, Southampton still possess the joint-seventh best defensive record in the division, something that goes unnoticed.
Nevertheless, Russell Martin has a job on his hands to lift his side after they let slip a 2-1 lead at Ipswich Town on Easter Monday, preventing them from remaining active in the automatic promotion race in the short term.
That said, although Southampton sit 12 points adrift of second-placed Leeds United, they still possess two matches in hand, dangling the carrot in the form of a late burst for a top-two spot.
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Given his efforts at Birmingham City, the likelihood is that John Eustace will be given time at the helm at Blackburn, but there is no getting away from the fact that he desperately needed a win earlier this week.
Rovers travelled to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland on the back of nine games without success, albeit that being a run featuring six draws and three defeats by one-goal margins.
Blackburn had also failed to score more than twice in any of those matches, yet they ran riot in the North East, scoring four times either side of half time before sealing a 5-1 victory in the closing stages.
As a result, Blackburn now sit five points clear of the bottom three with six matches remaining, and one more win may prove to be enough to eventually get over the line in terms of survival.
Team News
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Ben Chrisene is in line to start at left-back for Blackburn courtesy of the injury that Harry Pickering sustained against Sunderland.
The rest of the starting lineup could stay the same, Andrew Moran likely having to remain among the replacements despite scoring as a substitute.
Kyle McFadzean should only be selected on the bench after completing a three-match ban.
Meanwhile, Kyle Walker-Peters will expect a recall at right-back for Southampton with James Bree serving a suspension.
David Brooks will be considered for a recall, while Ryan Manning may take the spot of Jack Stephens at left-back, but Stuart Armstrong is ruled out due to concussion protocols.
Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Pears; Brittain, Hyam, Wharton, Chrisene; Tronstad, Rankin-Costello; Hedges, Szmodics, Dolan; Gallagher
Southampton possible starting lineup:
Bazunu; Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Manning; Aribo, Downes, Smallbone; A. Armstrong, Adams, Brooks
We say: Blackburn Rovers 2-3 Southampton
All the signs are there that this could be somewhat of a goal-fest, although it is unclear who may prevail at Ewood Park. For us, we have to give the nod to the visitors, who have more reason to throw caution to the wind in the latter stages.
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Darren Plant
