Blackburn Rovers defender Daniel Ayala is in contention to feature in this weekend’s Lancashire clash v Preston North End.
Blackburn Rovers welcome Preston in the Championship this weekend. Rovers currently find themselves in 5th-place of the table after a solid first half of the campaign so far, whilst the Lilywhites are slumped in 17th.
Ahead of the game, one of Rovers’ main injury concerns has been Ayala – the Spaniard suffered an ankle injury in the game v Peterborough United last month, and missed the last outing v Stoke City.
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But Rovers boss Tony Mowbray has revealed that the 31-year-old is in contention to feature v Preston this weekend. He told RoversTV:
“Daniel was on the training ground today. He’s fine, he was training and working with the team.
“He’s potentially available for the squad and that’s a positive for me because this team has looked better with Daniel in it.
“However, at the same time, Jan Paul came in and did exceptionally well at Stoke and you’d have to say that Bradley Johnson did exceptionally well in the role when Daniel came off against Peterborough.
“It’s good to see Daniel back training because an injury can sometimes drag on a few weeks. Fortunately, this injury looks as if it’s gone out of the way quite quickly.”
Rovers currently sit in 5th-place of the Championship table after what’s proved to be a stellar start to the season. Now 20 games in, Blackburn look like dark horses for a play-off finish this season and having someone like Ayala back is certainly a massive boost for Mowbray and his side.
The former Liverpool man has featured 16 times in the league so far this season. After struggling last time round with injury he’s quickly established his presence in the side and he’s been a massive part in Blackburn’s strong showing of late.
Having him back for Preston is a huge plus, and a win over their local rivals will surely give the players and fans another boost in confidence heading into this congested Christmas period.
The game kicks off at 3pm on Saturday afternoon.
