Sheffield United v Blackburn Rovers: Big blow for Rovers as Ben Brereton-Diaz misses crunch Blades clash with injury

Blackburn Rovers have been dealt a huge injury blow ahead of their crunch Championship clash with Sheffield United on Wednesday evening, after confirmation their top scorer Ben Brereton will be out for “a few weeks at least”.
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Brereton, the Chile international who has scored 20 goals for Rovers already this season, twisted his ankle against West Brom earlier this month and despite hopes that he would recover quickly, boss Tony Mowbray revealed that his side would make the trip to Bramall Lane without their star man.

“Ben has damaged his ankle ligaments, so we won’t be seeing Ben,” Mowbray said.

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“It’s quite difficult to put a timescale on it. He’s damaged his ankle ligaments. Is it four weeks? Is it six weeks? Is it eight weeks? I don’t know.

“Ben will be ready when he’s ready. We’ll get on without him in the short term. Let’s hope he can impact the end of our season.

“At the moment he won’t be available for a few weeks at least.”

Defender Daniel Ayala is also expected to miss out for Rovers with a calf issue, as United look to cut the gap between themselves and their third-placed visitors to just a point with another Bramall Lane victory.

Chris Basham of Sheffield United and Ben Brereton of Blackburn Rovers could both miss Wednesday's crunch clash between two promotion-chasing sides: Simon Bellis / SportimageChris Basham of Sheffield United and Ben Brereton of Blackburn Rovers could both miss Wednesday's crunch clash between two promotion-chasing sides: Simon Bellis / Sportimage
Chris Basham of Sheffield United and Ben Brereton of Blackburn Rovers could both miss Wednesday's crunch clash between two promotion-chasing sides: Simon Bellis / Sportimage

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“I’m not sure with Daniel,” Mowbray added.

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“He won’t be playing on Wednesday or Saturday [against QPR] in my opinion. After that we’ll wait and see.”

United, of course, have injury problems of their own. Jayden Bogle and David McGoldrick are both expected to miss the rest of the season, while Chris Basham, George Baldock and Rhys Norrington-Davies are all carrying knocks ahead of the Rovers clash.

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