Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray has confirmed that star forward Bradley Dack is set to be part of his squad to take on Bristol City this weekend in what would be his first Championship appearance for 12 months.
Dack has been sidelined with a second ACL injury since March last year which has prevented the 28-year-old playing any part in Rovers' promotion bid this season but after playing and scoring twice in a behind-closed-doors match on Monday against League Two Salford City is back in first-team contention.
City take on Blackburn at Ewood Park on Saturday with the hosts fourth in the Championship, four points off the automatic promotion places but having scored just one goal in their last eight games.
"Dack will probably make the bench at the weekend, he scored another two on Monday," Mowbray said. “He’s not fit, but he could come on for 20 minutes or quarter of an hour. He’s not ready in my mind but his injury is fit, it’s just he’s not match fit.
“He’s nowhere near running up and down, you see me pushing and driving them on the touchline and Dacky isn’t going to be able to do that. But he can get the ball around the edge of the box and stick someone in, or bend it in himself.
“He can do all of that and I wouldn’t expect him to be charging up and down the pitch but he feels his body is ready to play football.
“He probably needs another three or four weeks to get his match sharpness in his legs. In my mind, I hope we're 3-0 up and he doesn’t have to come on on Saturday.”
Dack has 49 goals in 131 games for Blackburn, and has been their top goalscorer in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons but has played just 17 matches since his first ACL injury in December 2019.
City go into the encounter on their own poor run of form having lost four of their last five matches and not won on the road since beating Peterborough United 3-2 on October 2. It's also 15 league games, or 1,350 minutes, since the Robins last kept a clean sheet as Nigel Pearson still struggles to find consistency and defensive solidity in his squad.
The good news for City is that Blackburn will be without top-scorer Ben Brereton-Diaz, who claimed the equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Ashton Gate in November. The Chilean international has been out since February 14 with an ankle ligament injury.
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