John Eustace simply must fix Blackburn Rovers issue that featured in Coventry City loss - View | OneFootball

There is still one standout box for the Ewood Park club to tick this season

Compared to pre-season expectations, Blackburn Rovers have made a very strong start to the 2024/25 Championship campaign.

Having only just avoided relegation on the final day of last season, and after losing top scorer Sammie Szmodics in the summer transfer window, many expected the Lancashire club once again to be around the bottom three this season.

So far though, that has not been the case, with a string of largely improved performances and results meaning that John Eustace's side are instead currently in and around the play-off spots.

However, after what had been such an encouraging start to the campaign, Blackburn were handed their first major setback since the action began in early August, on Tuesday night.

Coventry City trounce Blackburn Rovers to hand John Eustace first league defeat of 2024-25

This first round of midweek league fixtures of the campaign saw Rovers make the trip to the CBS Arena on Tuesday to take on an out of form Coventry City.

Going into that game, the visitors were still unbeaten in the league this season, with four wins and three draws from seven league games prior to that match.

However, that run would come to an emphatic end on Tuesday, with the Sky Blues claiming a 3-0 win over Eustace's men.

Goals from Jake Bidwell, Haji Wright and Brandon Thomas-Asante handed the hosts a comfortable victory, and it left Blackburn's boss searching for answers.

Not only did Coventry end Rovers' unbeaten start to the league campaign, they arguably also highlighted one lingering issue for Blackburn that Eustace will no doubt want to address quickly.

Blackburn Rovers away game issue will just not vanish

For all the positives that the Ewood Park club have been able to show since the start of the campaign, one thing they are still waiting on is a win away from home in the league.

In the four games they have played on the road in the Championship this season, they have now amassed three draws, which has been now added to with a loss.

That though is not to say that Blackburn have not had their chances to take three points back with them to Ewood Park this season in one match.

In their first away game of the campaign, they did hold a 1-0 half time lead against Norwich City, before two defensive lapses in quick succession gave the Canaries a 2-1 lead.

On that occasion, Rovers needed a late Yuki Ohashi header to ensure they returned from Norfolk with a point from a 2-2 draw.

And in last month's short trip to Deepdale to face Lancashire rivals Preston North End, Eustace's side were up against ten men for almost half the game, after Sam Greenwood's 42nd minute red card for Paul Heckingbottom's side.

They were however, unable to find a take advantage of their extra man in that game, and may feel that on the balance of play they were somewhat lucky to claim a goalless draw from that game.

Although Blackburn were convincingly beaten by Coventry on Tuesday, the form book did suggest that the match was an opportunity for them as well.

While Rovers went into the game unbeaten in the league, the Sky Blues had lost four of their last five games in all competitions, picking up just five points from their previous seven league matches.

Those stats could have been seen as a chance for Eustace's in-form team to take advantage of going up against a struggling opponent - something they failed to do as Mark Robins' side ran riot when it was all said and done.

As a result, that wait for an away league win has continued for Blackburn, and that is an issue they will surely want to get off their back soon, especially with those chances they have missed already.

The longer the wait for them to do that goes on, the more scrutiny will be placed on that situation, generating the sort of pressure that can make it difficult to pick up important results in those games.

Of course, if you had offered this set of results to any Rovers at the start of the season, there is a good chance they would have taken them, given those aforementioned expectations.

Indeed, the return of four wins from four home league games so far is exemplary, and one they will be desperate to continue.

However, when they were sat seventh in the table, just two points adrift of the play-offs at the start of December last year, few would have expected them to end the campaign fighting relegation.

Blackburn therefore, should be well aware of how drastically things can change in a short space of time, meaning they will want to take every opportunity they get to put points on the board now.

Of course, while their home form has been excellent so far, it may be worth remembering they won just six league games at Ewood Park last season.

Consequently, they may not want to bank solely on that during this campaign, meaning they will want to start taking those chances on the road in the near future.

Rovers have another chance to do that when they travel to Home Park to face Plymouth Argyle on Saturday, in the final game before the international break.