Blackburn: The Need to find Focus and a Killer Instinct

Saturday, an away game and an opposition who have shipped 11 goals in two matches, against whom Blackburn have a great track record, an ideal time to pick up three points?  Not so, the final whistle blew and another draw.

Blackburn fans have become accustomed to draws, it is this which inevitably cost us a place in the playoffs a couple of seasons ago.  I like to point to the home draw against Brighton, a highly entertaining 3-3 match for neutrals but a game in which we should have won and in doing so perhaps finishing above Brighton in 6th spot instead of 2 points shy of the very same team we drew against.

Whilst draws away from home could be considered useful, those at Ewood do not help the cause.  We have drawn a stalemate in 12 games so far this season, the most in the league.  7 of these have come at home.  It is significant that this season our most likely score currently stands at either a 1-0 loss or a 1-1 draw (at home 0-0 or 1-1 and away a 1-0 loss) - this does not bode particularly well.  Last season our most common scoreline was also a 1-1 draw.  The season before that? A 0-0 draw or a 1-0 win and the season before again?  A 1-1 draw.  There's a certain pattern emerging.

The last few games, performances haven't been good enough.  The team have largely failed to make a case that they're about to turn a corner and go on the sort of run Rovers' fans been craving for for a long time.  At times, the players haven't looked like a team, one who are willing to fight for the cause and badge.  Whilst the season is a bit of a write off, these players should be putting up a case for still being here again next year.  They need to find some focus and discover the sort of killer instinct they have been lacking in many a close game that would bring along 3 points at a more regular basis than that bus that only travels 1 a month on the last Sunday.

February looks daunting and there's a very tough FA Cup match against Oxford coming up next.  Focus will very definitely be needed against Middlesbrough and Hull (our first two matches in February) who currently occupy the top two places in the league at this point but it is a chance for the players to stand up and be counted and show whether or not they have what it takes to move this club forward.  It will certainly be a time for Lambert to assess what more he might need going forward.  He has said the Summer will be the biggest window for this side and on current form it will have to be.