Opinion: How Blackburn Rovers should be hoping the World Cup can help them avoid a damaging recent trend | OneFootball

Not for the first time in recent years, Blackburn Rovers find themselves approaching the half way stage of the Championship season, in the mix for a top six spot.

An encouraging, if at times inconsistent start to life under new head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson, means the Ewood Park club are currently third in the second-tier table, two points adrift of an automatic promotion place.

However, if Tomasson is to ensure that his side maintain that position throughout the remainder of the campaign, he will have to avoid the trend of a late season dip in form, that has cost the club so badly in the past few campaigns.

In 2018-19, a run of just one win in 11 games between February and April saw Rovers drop from eighth to 16th in the Championship standings, wiping out their top six hopes.

A year later, a return of just three wins from the final 13 games of the league campaign led to the club dropping from eighth, three points adrift of the play-offs, to 11th, seven points off the top six, come the end of the campaign.

In 2020/21 meanwhile, Rovers would win just four of their last 20 games of the league campaign, as they again dropped from eighth in the table three points adrift of the play-offs, to 15th in the final standings.

Then, last season saw the Lancastrians suffer arguably their most disappointing collapse yet. Ending the January window second in the Championship table and looking every bit a promotion contender in the eyes of many, Rovers then produced just four wins from their final 17 games, that saw them drop out of the top six altogether by the end of the campaign.

As a result, it is understandable that many will doubt whether Rovers can actually stay the course in this battle for a place in the Premier League, between now and the end of the season in May, given that recent history.

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However, it is worth noting that the change to the calendar this season brought about by the World Cup, could prove vital in avoiding those problems this time around.

Unlike in those previous years, the four-week break brought about by the World Cup for Rovers, gives them a chance to reset and reflect, that they have not had during the hectic and relentless schedules of those previous seasons.

Given the way that a lack of depth in certain areas of their squad appears to have cost Rovers in recent seasons, that opportunity for the options they do have now to freshen up physically could be vital in ensuring they can cope with the demands of what is to come between now and the end of the campaign.

From a mental perspective as well, this could almost offer those at Blackburn to view the return to action after a lengthy time out as the start of a new campaign, the likes of which they have fared so well over recent times, which could help them stay the course all the way through to the end of May.

Meanwhile, with Ryan Hedges’ seemingly harsh omission from Wales’ squad for the tournament meaning Blackburn do not actually have any players out in Qatar, Tomasson has had a chance to work on any alterations he may want to make to the way his side are playing, with every single member of his side.

That in turn should also ensure that Tomasson’s side are in a decent position to hit the ground running when they return to competitive action at home against local rivals Preston, a week on Saturday.

With all that in mind, it seems that while the timing of this World Cup may have been rather inconvenient for many, for Blackburn, it may have given them an opportunity they can ill afford to pass up.