Blackburn may be 'galvanised' after Eustace speculation - Mowbray

Tony Mowbray's last visit to The Hawthorns as Blackburn Rovers boss was a 0-0 draw in February 2022

West Bromwich Albion boss Tony Mowbray has warned that Wednesday night's Hawthorns opponents Blackburn Rovers may well be "galvanised" after several days of speculation about his opposite number John Eustace's future.

Albion take on Mowbray's former club - fifth against sixth - looking for a third straight home win since the veteran Baggies boss returned.

Rovers could be managerless as Eustace appears on the verge of a move back to the Midlands. But, although he is expected to have been announced as the new Derby County boss before the game takes place, Mowbray does not expect any negative effect on his old club.

It was May 2022 when Mowbray left Ewood Park, but he told BBC Radio WM: "Knowing the likes of Lewis Travis and John Buckley, they are very determined, focused young footballers, who will just want to win the next game.

"Players are pretty resilient. Most of them will have been through a few managers.

"They're not all going to be distraught and not try because they've not got a head coach. I'm pretty sure it will galvanise the playing group, they will have a chat with each other and will come here and give it a real go.

"They're a club I spent five and a half very happy years with. It's a tough game for us when you look at their results. I've seen them twice this year at Middlesbrough, where I live. But they won both of those games 1-0."

Daryl Dike made his last Albion appearance almost exactly a year ago

Mowbray will go into battle buoyed by what he saw on Monday night when Albion's Under-21s beat Newcastle United 3-1 - a game featuring both Daryl Dike and Semi Ajayi on their way back from injury.

Dike played half an hour for the Under-21s – exactly a year to the day since he tore his Achilles for the second time. Ajayi also played 45 minutes on his comeback from a four-month lay-off. And, although he admits that Dike is "desperate to return", Mowbray says Ajayi is probably the closer of the two to a first-team return.

After waiting seven months for his league debut, goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith will make his second Hawthorns appearance in five days following the sale of Alex Palmer.