AFC Bournemouth v Blackburn Rovers
Tuesday 25TH September, 7:45PM
Carabao Cup Third Round
Vitality Stadium

The Cherries enter the third round of the competition against Blackburn Rovers, having beaten MK Dons 3-0 in the second round last month. The two sides played out a goalless draw in in the Championship in their previous encounter back in 2015 at Vitality Stadium.

Blackburn find themselves right in the middle of the Championship table ahead of Tuesday's cup tie, after earning 14 points in their opening nine matches. Three wins, five draws, and just a single defeat put them two points behind the play-off places following promotion from League One last season.

Meanwhile in the Carabao Cup, Rovers are the highest-scoring side in the competition, having beaten Carlisle United 5-1 in the first round and Lincoln City 4-1 in the second.

Last time out

Stoke City 2-3 Blackburn Rovers

Stoke City were the hosts for Blackburn’s last league fixture on the weekend, and the away side held onto a three-goal lead despite hints of a late comeback from the Potters.

Bradley Dack and Danny Graham found the net to put Rovers 2-0 up at half-time, before Harrison Reed’s first goal for the club appeared to wrap up a comfortably victory. However, a final 15 minutes consisting of goals from Saido Berahino and Tom Ince made for a nervy conclusion, and it looked like the comeback could be complete when Stoke were awarded a penalty on the 90th minute. Berahino missed the spot-kick and Blackburn held on to take all three points.

Blackburn: Raya, Nyambe, Lenihan, Williams, Bell, Reed (Rothwell 80), Evans, Smallwood, Bennett, Dack (Brereton 84), Graham (Armstrong 84).

2017/18 top scorer: Bradley Dack (18 goals)

Team news

Jack Rodwell could be handed his first-team debut against Bournemouth after signing from Sunderland in the summer.

Tony Mowbray has suggested that Joe Rothwell could also be involved, while Dominic Samuel, Ben Gladwin, Jacob Davenport, and captain Charlie Mulgrew remain sidelined.

The manager

Tony Mowbray took the helm at Blackburn midway through the 2016/17 season but was unable to avoid relegation from the Championship to League One. Rovers continued to show faith in Mowbray and were rewarded the following season as he guided them to second place in League One and an automatic promotion back to the Championship.

The Englishman has had plenty of experience as a manager across Britain, having taken charge of Ipswich Town, Hibernian, West Brom, Celtic, Middlesbrough, and Coventry across various stages of his career.

Top stat

Should the Cherries win on Tuesday night, they will reach the fourth round of the League Cup for the fourth time in the past five seasons – a feat they hadn’t achieved in any of the previous 50 seasons.