The Blackburn Rovers midfield could be strengthened by the return to fitness of Yildiray Basturk who may be in line for his debut after signing from Stuttgart last month. Australian Vince Grella could also be available for the match against Bolton.

 

Sam Allardyce had mixed luck during the January transfer window and will be delighted to finally have the services of Basturk at his disposal. The Turk saw almost 80 minutes of a reserve match against Wigan whilst Grella competed the full 90 minutes.

Sunday’s match is a reflection of what is becoming a regular occurrence for Rovers who last played a Saturday fixture at Ewood before Christmas. With the match against Birmingham rescheduled for a Wednesday due to the Blues continuing FA Cup interest, there will be a four-month gap between Saturday games for home fans who will next get to see their favourites in a traditional 3pm Saturday kick-off on 10^th April against Manchester United.

Blackburn Chairman John Williams has promised that Allardyce will be under no pressure to sell before he buys during the summer. The final league position will be a factor in the amount Sam can splash about but with increased television revenues due, Williams was keen to stress his backing for Allardyce in the transfer market. "If we can hold our league position then we should have the Benni McCarthy money to reinvest in the squad and hopefully that should allow us to make the signings we want to make.”