Blackburn fail to make their case for Premier League qualification

Blackburn Rovers faltered yet again in the race for automatic qualification to the Premier League as they were held to a draw by mid-table Millwall. For the second week in a row, Tony Mowbray's men dropped points after losing to leaders Fulham last weekend.

It has been a disappointing patch for the Riversiders, who at one point in time were competing head-on against runaway leaders Fulham. Unfortunately, in their last 10 league outings, they have dropped as many as 20 points with just two wins in the period.

Subsequently, an 18-point gap has opened up between Fulham and themselves. At the same time, the likes of Huddersfield Town and Bournemouth have climbed up the table.

Dropping too many points against lower-ranked teams

The definition of lower-ranked teams in the Championship is quite blurred given how competitive the division is. With 24 teams vying for three Premier League spots, it is perhaps more competitive than the Premier League itself. However, there are those games where a team has to win to push themselves into those automatic qualification slots.

Rovers were culpable for dropping points against Hull City, Luton Town, Middlesbrough and Swansea. The defeat to Hull City was a case of underestimating a fragile opponent.

Hull walked into that fixture on the back of four straight defeats which had pummeled them into the relegation waters. Blackburn arrived on the back of an unbeaten run of seven games. More importantly, Hull were missing some of their key players, Tom Huddlestone and midfielder, George Moncur, in the tie.

Hull came with a determination to earn some points and were rewarded in the opening 10 minutes as a callous piece of defending from the visitors gave Hull an early lead. Scott Wharton's misplaced pass was capitalized on by George Honeyman. Blackburn barely recovered and eventually conceded a second to lose the tie. It was the beginning of the Riversiders' downturn that saw them only pick eleven points from their last ten.

Inconsistent selection from Blackburn

Mowbray's men have suffered in recent weeks as they are unable to identify their best XI on the pitch. Ryan Giles and Ryan Hedges are drifting in and out of the team with Mowbray lacking faith in midfielder Lewis Travis.

The backline and Reda Khadra are the only constant members of the first-team at this point in time. As many as thirty players have played a game for Blackburn this season, the most among any Championship team.

Unless Mowbray creates some stability in team selections, the results will keep on oscillating from good to bad.