Away form still evades Rovers
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Your support makes all the difference.Ipswich Town 0 Blackburn Rovers 0
George Moore's notion that a man travels the world in search of what he needs and returns home to find it, fits modern day Blackburn Rovers and their suffering supporters perfectly.
Winless on their Premiership wanderings this season, they failed to fool First Division opponents in the FA Cup third round on Saturday. Now they have another chance to prove their superiority over Ipswich on Wednesday week at Ewood Park, where a string of eight successive League successes serves as a reminder that they are champions.
Having been sleepy in Suffolk for the first half, Rovers controlled the second, killing the game without suggesting they would produce something subtle, skilful or plain powerful enough to save themselves the trouble of a replay. Neither side was helped by the Portman Road pitch, which has taken to coming away in chunks since the frost got into it. Passing was not easy and that featured prominently in the post-match explanations of why so much of the football had been as cold and damp as the weather.
Ipswich's manager, George Burley, said his side could have done with a little break in the first half. If they had taken the lead, it would have enlivened things, but really they needed a big break. For all their pressure, Tim Flowers, in the Blackburn goal, was rarely troubled and when he was, by Simon Milton's 48th-minute chip, he simply flipped the ball over the bar.
Blackburn seem to hold all the cards now. Lars Bohinen will no doubt shake off his food poisoning and David Batty's groin problem might go away in the next 10 days. Ironically, their replacements, Billy McKinlay and Kevin Gallacher, had the most to be pleased about. McKinlay looked comfortable in central midfield and Gallacher, on the left, lasted well after his two years of agony, although he looked understandably rusty. Quite why Blackburn cannot play like champions away from home is less fathomable.
Ipswich Town (4-4-2): Forrest; Yallop (Uhlenbeek, 78), Mowbray, Thomsen, Taricco; Stockwell, Williams, Sedgley, Milton; Marshall, Mathie. Substitutes not used: Gregory, Baker (gk).
Blackburn Rovers (4-4-2): Flowers; Berg, Hendry, Coleman, Kenna; Ripley, Sherwood, McKinlay, Gallacher; Shearer, Newell. Substitutes not used: Marker, Holmes, Mimms (gk).
Referee: D Elleray (Harrow).
Bookings: Blackburn: Sherwood.
Man of the match: Mowbray.
Attendance: 21,236.
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