Every Blackburn Rovers striker from the last 5 seasons ranked from worst to best - Brereton-Diaz = 3rd | OneFootball

Highlights

Going into this summer's transfer window, the issue of strikers was high on the agenda for Blackburn Rovers.

A lack of options in that position, and the chances they missed as a result of that in the second half of last season, arguably cost the Ewood Park club dearly in their pursuit of a Championship play-off place, something they missed out on purely by goal difference in the 2022/23 season.

There was therefore a need to bring in further attacking options in the summer, something they managed to do with the additions of Niall Ennis and Semir Telalovic.

But just what sort of challenge do those new signings face, in living up to the standards of those to have previously led the line at Ewood Park?

In order to help find out, we've taken a look at Blackburn's ten centre forwards from the last five seasons, ranking them from worst to best in the process.

10 Danny Butterworth

Butterworth was prolific in the academy ranks for Blackburn, but struggled to make the step-up to senior level at Ewood Park, failing to score in 17 first-team appearances.

Having also struggled for goals on loan in League One, he was released at the end of his contract this summer, and has since joined Carlisle United in the third-tier.

9 George Hirst

Hirst joined Blackburn on a season-long loan from Leicester last summer that included the option to buy, but by January, he had been recalled by the fixtures, having never settled at Ewood Park.

The striker failed to score in 11 games for Rovers, his most memorable contribution for the club being a stoppage time penalty miss in a 1-0 defeat at Cardiff.

8 Harry Leonard

Academy graduate Leonard made just a handful of appearances for Blackburn towards the end of last season, where he did at least show plenty of promise.

If - as he has looked like doing so far this season - he continues to build on that, there can be a good deal of confidence he will be further up the standings in future editions of these sort of lists.

7 Jack Vale

Another to come through the Rovers youth ranks, Vale scored a couple of well taken goals in the cup competitions last season.

Despite being given a number of chances, he is yet to make his mark in the Championship though, and Blackburn will hope he is able to do that after his loan spell at Lincoln this season.

6 Joe Nuttall

Signed from Aberdeen in 2017, Nuttall spent the next two years of his career with Blackburn, where he was something of a bit-part player for the first-team.

Over this five-year period, Nuttall scored twice for Rovers in their first season back in the Championship, and was sold to Blackpool in 2019, he's now in non-league football with Oldham.

5 Dominic Samuel

Samuel scored some important goals during Blackburn's League One promotion campaign, but was unable to maintain that form throughout the whole season.

A serious injury then kept him out of most of the club's first season back in the Championship, and despite getting on the scoresheet a couple of times after his return the following season, he was released in the summer of 2020.

4 Sam Gallagher

Having previously been on loan with Blackburn when they were relegated from the Championship in the 2016/17, Gallagher returned to Ewood Park on a permanent basis in the summer of 2019.

Since then, the striker's work rate has been unquestionable, while Rovers' win rate is better when he starts, although his goals do not come quite as frequently as a centre forward who plays as much as he does would probably like.

3 Ben Brereton-Diaz

Blackburn's top scorer in the last two seasons, it took Brereton-Diaz some time to get going after joining Rovers in a big-money move back 2018.

Indeed, even when he did, his prolific form only seemed to last for half a season, meaning it was not enough to fire Rovers to promotion, while the fact he left on a free transfer this summer after such investment in him, is also likely to sting for those at Ewood Park.

2 Danny Graham

Blackburn's Player of the Year in their first season back in the Championship, Graham remained a consistent source of goals throughout much of his time at Ewood Park.

The vetran forward scored 57 goals in 191 games in all competitions for the club between 2016 and 2020, while his all-round performances and commitment to the club made him both a nuisance for opposition teams, and hugely popular figure around Ewood Park to this day.

1 Adam Armstrong

Armstrong returned to Blackburn on a permanent deal in the summer of 2018, having helped the club to promotion from League One while on loan from Newcastle in the second half of the previous campaign.

While his first season with Rovers in the Championship was a slow burner, he then exploded into life over the next two, becoming one of the division's most dangerous strikers. Indeed, the 29 goals he scored for Blackburn in his last season with the club before joining Southampton in the summer of 2021, was the most any player for the club since Alan Shearer 25 years before.