Blackburn Rovers and Bristol City square off on Saturday afternoon with just two points separating the clubs in the Championship standings.

Despite sitting just below the playoffs, both teams have failed to win for at least four matches at the second tier.

Match preview

Having witnessed his Bristol City side go five games without success, Lee Johnson will be relieved that the Robins remain well in contention for a playoff spot.

The draws against Millwall and Fulham have stemmed the run of defeats, leaving Bristol just one point behind sixth-placed Preston North End and five adrift of Brentford in fourth spot.

With four games to come in the half-a-dozen games which follow the visit to Ewood Park, Johnson knows that avoiding defeat for a third successive match will help his team continue to build some momentum ahead of a crucial stage of the season.

Although the recent stalemates have come as a result of letting leads slip from their grasp, the positives will be taken from only conceding one goal in each of their last two outings after the previous free-for-all at the back.

Draws against Brentford, Stoke City and Swansea City have also been enough to keep Blackburn in the playoff picture in recent weeks, results which extended their unbeaten record to five matches.

However, the 3-0 loss at Derby County means that they have now gone four games without success, putting a different spin on the team's progress under Tony Mowbray.

One positive result is capable of turning the tide for the better, especially against opponents who are also struggling for confidence in more than one area of the pitch.

Nevertheless, another setback could leave Blackburn as low as 12th position and six points away from their target, potentially leaving them with too much to do during the final eight contests of the campaign.

Blackburn Rovers Championship form: WWDDDL

Bristol City Championship form: WLLLDD

Team News

With Nathan Baker sidelined through injury, Johnson is expected to hand a recall to Leicester City loanee Filip Benkovic.

Niclas Eliasson is also pushing for an appearance in the Bristol starting lineup after only featuring on the substitutes' bench against Fulham.

Andreas Weimann is likely to get the nod over Famara Diedhiou in attack, with Nahki Wells keeping his place after netting last weekend.

Blackburn will be without midfielder John Buckley after he picked up a red card against Derby.

Bradley Johnson is pushing for a start in midfield, potentially at the expense of Ben Brereton who could drop out if Sam Gallagher or Adam Armstrong are used further forward.

Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Walton; Nyambe, Lenihan, Adarabioyo, Bell; Travis, Johnson; Gallagher, Downing, Rothwell; Armstrong

Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Maenpaa; Pereira, Kalas, Benkovic, Dasilva; Paterson, Smith, Massengo, Eliasson; Weimann, Wells

We say: Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Bristol City

Both teams will naturally be wary of handing each other an advantage in the race for the playoffs when squaring off at Ewood Park, and we feel that this will inevitably lead to a low-scoring draw being played out in the North-West.