Blackburn Rovers

Image source, Rex Features

Blackburn Rovers forward Yuki Ohashi made his international debut for Japan in their World Cup qualifier against Indonesia in the early hours of Friday.

The 28-year-old appeared as a substitute for the final 10 minutes in Jakarta which Japan won 4-0 with Southampton's Yukinari Sugawara among the goalscorers.

Japan are top of their AFC World Cup qualifying group, five points clear of Australia, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Ohashi, who has scored five goals for Blackburn since signing from Sanfrecce Hiroshima in July, is expected to be involved again when Japan face the bottom side China next Tuesday.

Image source, Rex Features

Blackburn Rovers defender Tom Atcheson has signed a new four-year contract at Ewood Park with the option for a further 12 months.

He became Rovers' fourth youngest player to make a first-team appearance when, at 16 years and 343 days, he featured as a late substitute in their 8-0 Carabao Cup win at Harrogate last season.

The 18-year-old also appeared in Blackburn's FA Cup fourth-round victory over Wrexham last season but is yet to play a league game.

Atcheson, a Northern Ireland Under-19 international, is currently on loan with National League North side Marine.

Image source, BBC Sport/Rex Features

There are four Blackburn players who have been called up for senior international duty this week:

• Arnor Sigurdsson for Iceland

• Balazs Toth for Hungry

• Yuki Ohashi for Japan

• Andi Weimann for Austria

Rovers full-back Owen Beck has withdrawn from the Wales squad with injury.

You can keep up to date with how they are getting on using our scores and fixtures list as well as follow Iceland's match against Wales live on the BBC Sport website and Radio 5 Live.

Image source, Rex Features

Blackburn Rovers head coach, John Eustace says he got just the reaction he wanted from his side in Wednesday's 2-0 home defeat by Stoke even if the result did not go their way.

Rovers also lost 2-0 at home to Sheffield United on Saturday but Eustace believes they are on the right track.

"I thought it was excellent, it was one of the best performances with the ball since I've been here," he told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"The lads played with a lot of confidence and on another day we could have won the game by three or four goals."

The defeat is Blackburn's third in a row and their fourth game without scoring.

"We need to defend properly and keep clean sheets but it's important we stay positive because that performance was excellent.

"We limited Stoke to very little but they've got real quality in their front line, paid good money for a lot of big players and you can see when they got the opportunity they took it," added Eustace.

Image source, Rex Features

Blackburn Rovers head coach John Eustace has confirmed Arnor Sigurdsson will miss Wednesday's Championship home match against Stoke City.

Speaking to BBC Radio Lancashire, Eustace confirmed the Icelandic midfielder is expected to return after the international break, meaning he will also be out for the trip to Cardiff City on Saturday.

"Obviously, he has had a tough time recently through illness and injury just as he was coming up to speed," he said.

"The last couple of weeks he's trained well and just as he's about to come back into the team, unfortunately he's got a slight strain, so, frustrating all round really."

Meanwhile, Eustace remained cautious on the fitness of young striker Harry Leonard after the 21-year-old striker's return to first-team training.

Despite Rovers going three games without scoring, the Stoke match seems to have come around slightly too soon for Leonard to feature.

"I think it's important we don't push Harry too early," said Eustace.

"He's still short of match fitness and that's why he's been playing a lot for the under-23s but as long as we can keep him match-fit, he's going to get stronger and stronger throughout the season.

"We know he can score goals, he's done that through all the levels."

"He's a young player coming from the academy and everyone loves a player coming through the ranks and he's hungry to do well."

Image source, Rex Features

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Stoke City will aim to pick up their second away win of the Championship season when they visit Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday night. Narcis Pelach’s side have won one of their past five games (D3, L1), while Rovers are without a win in three (D1, L2).

• Blackburn completed a league double over Stoke last season and are looking for three wins in a row against them for the first time since a run of five between 1988 and 2008.

• After going eight league games unbeaten at Ewood Park between 2009 and 2022, Stoke City lost 3-1 there last season.

• Blackburn’s Tyrhys Dolan scored twice in that match - the first time he had done so in the league.

• Blackburn have not won a midweek league game since a 2-1 win over Bristol City in December 2023 (D3, L4 since), failing to score in six of those seven games.

• Stoke have failed to win or score in each of their past four away league games (D1, L3). The Potters have not gone five successive league games on the road without scoring outside the top-flight since August 1997 (a run of nine).

Image source, BBC Sport