Blackburn Rovers are preparing for a significant rise in pre-season difficulty when they meet Nottingham Forest during their training camp in Portugal. Forest are expected to provide a much stronger examination than Rovers’ first two warm-up opponents.
Rovers opened their preparations with a goalless draw against Accrington Stanley before recording a 3-0 win over Barnsley. The Forest friendly will test how effectively Blackburn can cope against a side likely to control long spells of possession.
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| Accrington Stanley | 0-0 draw |
| Barnsley | 3-0 win |
A Different Tactical Challenge
Rovers manager Tony Mowbray has indicated that his team may spend large portions of the match without the ball. Blackburn’s challenge will be to choose their pressing moments carefully and make the most of the chances they create.
Forest began Oliver Glasner’s time as head coach with a 2-0 victory over Notts County at Meadow Lane. According to the Lancashire Telegraph, the Reds were close to full strength in the first half, despite several absences.
Chris Wood and Ibrahim Sangare did not feature against Notts County after their World Cup commitments, but both are set to return in Portugal. Their availability would add further experience to a Forest group that already contained several established first-team players.
“We will continue our work that we have started this week,” Glasner said. “Two international players will return during the camp, Chris Wood and Ibrahim Sangare. Then hopefully we will have one or two new signings.”
Forest’s Returning Options
Glasner also said Callum Hudson-Odoi would be partly integrated from Monday, with the aim of having him fully training with the team during the second week of the camp. Forest will also seek to bring Murillo back into team training.
“These are our targets and getting used to what we want to do, how we want to play in and out of possession, set-play,” Glasner said. “There are many things to do.”
Forest’s groups against Notts County included Matz Sels, Ola Aina, Nikola Milenkovic, Morgan Gibbs-White, Omari Hutchinson, James McAtee and Igor Jesus. Jesus scored before Arnaud Kalimuendo added another goal in the win.
The second half at Meadow Lane featured more young players as Forest split their side into two XIs. Blackburn have also used separate teams during pre-season, but the Portugal match is set to offer a sharper measure of their readiness.
