The Blackburn view on Bradley Dack and John Buckley plus what Sunderland can expect on Boxing Day

Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side are third in the table following a 2-0 win at Norwich last time out, but were beaten convincingly by local rivals Burnley and Preston either side of their World Cup break.

Rovers then made 11 changes for a 4-1 Carabao Cup defeat against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.

To find out more we caught up with Rovers podcaster Ian Herbert on the latest episode of The Roar Podcast:

You can listen to the full episode here

What is the view on Jon Dahl Tomasson after half a season in charge?

IH: “Well he’s not Tony Mowbray. I have a lot of time for Tony and the job he did at Rovers but I think he went past his sell by date.

“He had a season, probably two seasons, where we got into a routine of winning lots of games prior to New Year and tailing off in January.

"What we have with JDT is that in a microcosm where it’s been win, loss, win, loss.

“I think you have to give a new manager time. If you’d asked me at the start of the season where Rovers' natural position would be, I’d have probably said mid-table, maybe lower mid-table.

Who are the side’s key players?

IH: “Thomas Kaminski in goal has been an excellent signing. Blackburn have a really good tradition of having solid keepers. He’s been fundamental at the back.

“We signed Dom Hyam in the summer from Coventry and he’s slotted in almost seamlessly. When he’s alongside Daniel Ayala, that's a solid partnership at the back.

“Up front you have Ben Brereton-Diaz and Sam Gallagher. We have this stat with Sam Gallagher that when he starts our results are fundamentally better.

While Tony Mowbray has cooled speculation, Sunderland have been linked with Bradley Dack and John Buckley. What are their situations at Rovers?

IH: “I think the two are different.

“I think if a player is likely to leave in January it’s far more likely to be Bradley Dack than anybody else in the squad, and I’d include Brereton-Diaz in that.

“Dack has just about fought his way back into the first team but has had two horrific injuries and nobody can be sure at this point if he can recapture the form and consistency that he showed for us in the past.

“He’s been a terrific player for Blackburn but has lost the last two and a half years of his career with a second cruciate injury.

“If there is somebody who can get the best out of him, it’s Tony Mowbray. They almost have a father, son like relationship.

“John Buckley I’d be amazed if he goes anywhere.

“There was talk of him perhaps going out on loan but then he played against Norwich and played really well.

“He looked back to the John Buckley we all admire and I think there are a lot of people in the Rovers hierarchy that saw him as a 13,14 year old in the academy and thought there’s a real gem there.”

What’s your predicted XI?

IH: “Kaminski; Rankin-Costello, Ayala, Hyam, Pickering; Morton, Buckley, Travis; Gallagher, Dack, Brereton-Diaz.”