Blackburn Rovers v Blackpool: Live updates from Ewood Park

This is an incredibly hard line-up to predict, more so than normal. Changes are to be expected though.

Chris Maxwell will take the place of Dan Grimshaw in goal, while Jordan Gabriel could well return at right-back.

If that proves to be the case, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Callum Connolly push further forward to add some bite into Blackpool’s midfield - which is badly needed in the absence of Kevin Stewart.

Owen Dale, CJ Hamilton and Charlie Kirk will all be in contention to start, but - if Pool revert to 4-4-2 - I’d expect Keshi Anderson to play on the left wing as he brings a much-needed creative spark.

Up front, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Critchley mix things up and perhaps even hand a first start to Jake Beesley, but Shayne Lavery, Gary Madine and Jerry Yates will all be hoping to start.

Here’s how we think the Seasiders might line up.

“Blackpool are a competitive team who have made life very difficult for a lot of Championship clubs this season," Tony Mowbray said.

“They’ve been a credit to themselves to come up and do so well. Neil’s a very talented coach and it will be a tough game for us.

“They generally play 4-4-2, they leave no spaces between the lines. We have to go and bring our personality to the game and give everything we’ve got.

“They have experience in their squad with Richard Keogh at the back and [Gary] Madine up front. They’ll fight for every ball.

“They make life really difficult for you and we need to go and bring our personality to the game. There are three points at stake and it’s just as important as all the rest.

“The points this weekend are pretty critical for us. It’s at home and we’re looking forward to this weekend.”

“The aim now is to finish as high as we can.

“We’ve come a long way in a short period of time and we’ve given so much this season and enjoyed some memorable games.

“We had that little bit of hope before coming back from the international break, we knew it was an outside chance but it was still a chance, but you’d have to say that’s gone now.

“In football there’s always that professional and personal pride, there’s always something to play.

“What a great challenge, we’re going to Blackburn on Saturday. Look at the stadium, look at the facilities, a big club pushing for the play-offs, what a game for us to look forward to, so let’s just remember where we are.

“But come on, we’ve got four weeks left, seven games to go and we want to finish as high as we can in this division.

“Let’s not let the season dwindle away because that would be a disappointing end to what has been a relatively decent season so far.”

Jordan Gabriel is in contention to feature after recovering from a six-week lay-off with a hamstring injury.

The defender (above) has trained all week and could well be required to start in the absence of Dujon Sterling, who is out with ankle ligament damage.

The loanee has returned to his parent club Chelsea for further assessment and he will also complete his rehab at Stamford Bridge. It looks unlikely he will feature again for the Seasiders, although this hasn’t been confirmed.

Chris Maxwell will make his first start in goal since December as Dan Grimshaw continues to rest and recover at home after suffering concussion during the defeat to Preston on Tuesday night.

Kevin Stewart will also miss today’s game with a quad injury, although it’s hoped the midfielder might be able to play some part in the coming weeks.

Luke Garbutt, Grant Ward and Sonny Carey all remain sidelined.

The Seasiders make the short trip to Ewood Park for their second Lancashire derby in the space of five days.

Blackpool’s admittedly faint play-off hopes have been ended by back-to-back defeats, losing 1-0 to rivals Preston on Tuesday after the 4-1 loss to Nottingham Forest last weekend.

It leaves Neil Critchley’s side in 16th place on 52 points, in what has still been an excellent first season back in the Championship.

Today’s opponents Blackburn still have aspirations of making the play-offs and still only sit two points off the top six.

That’s despite a poor run of form which has seen them win only two of their last 12 games.

Today’s referee is Matthew Donohue, who takes charge of his fourth Blackpool game this season. He was also the referee for the away games against Hull City, Birmingham City and Hartlepool United.

And welcome to tonight’s live blog.

Hopefully this is a Lancashire derby to remember today, rather than forget after Tuesday night’s disappointing defeat at Deepdale.

The Seasiders now have seven games left to play, starting with Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park this afternoon.

Follow the blog for build-up, team news, match updates and post-match reaction.