Match preview -- havent won away for over a year now !

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Premier League Preview: Blackburn Rovers - Fulham
By Adithya Ananth
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EPL: Mark Hughes - Sam Allardyce, Blackburn Rovers - Manchester City (PA)
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Confidence and crowd in Rovers favour

Blackburn Rovers await the arrival of Fulham with the confidence of home advantage coupled with the boost of having held Manchester City to a draw last week.

Rovers travelled to Eastlands last Saturday and performed admirably to carve out a 1-1 draw when pitted against the big spenders. It came as a welcome result, as a loss would have become their third consecutive defeat in the Premier League.

But that was not to be, as a communication breakdown between goalkeeper Joe Hart and defender Kolo Toure saw Nikola Kalinic score what would be the goal that earned his side a precious point on their travels.

So when the players take to the pitch at Ewood Park, manager Sam Allardyce may feel that anything less than a victory will be seen as an underwhelming result by the fans.

This is owing to the club's feat of finishing 10th last season, prompting unrealistic expectations of a clinching a European spot this term – and not to mention the hype surrounding a potential takeover that has suddenly gone all too quiet.

Even Allardyce has conceded in the recent past that a takeover could be in doubt, but he has nevertheless continued to work with what he has at the Lancashire club.

Travel sickness...

Fulham are enduring a severe bout of travel sickness, as it is now over a year since they last registered a victory away from home in the Premier League.

And even that victory came against a Portsmouth side that had become embroiled with severe financial turmoil off the pitch, as they eventually went into administration that induced relegation.

The gravity of the situation becomes clearer when one takes a couple of steps further into past seasons, as the Cottagers have only seven victories away from home in their last three seasons in the top-flight.

The London-based club's manager Mark Hughes has conceded that he wishes to rectify this, as he said: "Our away form is not good, but we're solid and played well at Bolton in the first match of the season – and I think we can build on that."

But the encouraging part for the boss is that his side registered their first league victory – against Wolverhampton Wanderers – last week. But even the script of that game proved to be a bittersweet symphony, as striker Bobby Zamora went off injured and is not expected to return for a few months.

But then again, the dark cloud came with a silver lining as summer signing Moussa Dembele scored his first Premier League goal against Wolves, and topped it by getting his name on the score sheet again to guide his side to a win.

The Cottagers will need him to continue his strong form if they are to beat their away day blues.

TEAM NEWS

Blackburn Rovers

Rovers boss has concerns over the fitness of defenders Ryan Nelsen and Michel Salgado, with the pair recovering from foot and thigh injuries respectively. Keith Andrews remains sidelined for this one owing to a groin injury.

Possible starting XI: Robinson; Salgado, Samba, Nelsen, Givet; Jones, Grella, Pedersen, H Diouf; M Diouf, Kalinic.

Fulham

The Cottagers will miss Bobby Zamora, who suffered a broken leg last week and is expected to remain on the sidelines for a significant part of the current campaign. Fellow forward Andy Johnson is still some way from reaching fitness. Last week's hero Moussa Dembele will be asked to shoulder the goal scoring responsibilities.

Diomansy Kamara and Philippe Senderos are also sidelined for this game, while Damien Duff and David Stockdale remain doubtful of making it in time for the trip to Ewood Park.

Possible starting XI: Schwarzer; Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Kelly; Davies, Etuhu, Murphy, Dempsey; Gera; Dembele.