Brereton Diaz starts: The predicted Blackburn Rovers XI to face Forest on Wednesday night

Blackburn Rovers will view their 1-0 defeat to Swansea City on Saturday as a missed opportunity, not least because their opponents played 37 minutes with only 10 men. 

As Fulham and Bournemouth were both playing FA Cup ties, Rovers had an opportunity to gain some ground in the race for the automatic promotion spots but were unable to do so after squandering plenty of chances on goal.

Tony Mowbray’s side won’t have to wait long for their chance to make up for that slip-up, however, as they host Nottingham Forest at Ewood Park tomorrow night.

The Reds are flying right now after their 4-1 win over Leicester City in the FA Cup on Sunday and could catapult themselves into the top six by beating Blackburn – assuming results elsewhere go their way.

Forest are a side rejuvenated under Steve Cooper and Wednesday evening will be a tough test for the hosts.

With that in mind, we’ve outlined the starting XI we expect Mowbray to name…

Thomas Kaminski has been Rovers’ first-choice goalkeeper since joining from Gent in the summer of 2020 and could well be in for a busy evening against a Forest side that have scored 10 goals in their last four games.

He’ll need the back three in front of him – likely to be Scott Wharton, Jan Paul van Hecke, and Darragh Lenihan once again – to be strong and keep the likes of Keinan Davis, Phillip Zinckernagel, and Brennan Johnson quiet.

After his impressive display against Swansea and with Tayo Edun still out, Mowbray will be tempted to use Ryan Giles at left wing-back to allow him to maximise his team’s attacking output but given how dangerous Forest’s right flank is, with Johnson and Djed Spence too much for Leicester to handle on Sunday, it would seem sensible to opt for the more naturally defensive