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There is no getting away from the fact that Brentford fans fear that we are being sucked into an end-of-season relegation battle.

But if that’s true for us, then it must also be the case for Saturday’s visitors to Griffin Park – Blackburn Rovers.

Their 2-0 defeat at Ipswich on Tuesday left them with a miserable record of only two goals scored and two points gained in their last eight away games in the Championship.

And although they have been on a decent run at Ewood Park, where they have won four of their last five league games, they are level on points with us in the table – having played one more match – only seven points clear of the bottom three.

Manager Paul Lambert admitted that his side let down the 214 hardy fans who made the nine-hour round trip to Portman Road this week, telling the Lancashire Telegraph: “There were a lot of people coming a long distance to watch us and that’s not acceptable.”

Blackburn’s three away wins this season have come at Leeds in October (2-0), Preston in November (2-1) and Bristol City in December (2-0).

And since we met in November, they have lost prolific ex-Brentford striker Jordan Rhodes – who joined Middlesbrough on transfer deadline day.

However, Rovers have a few players on international duty during the break with on loan Swansea midfielder Matt Grimes making the England Under-21 squad for the first time – and only finding out after seeing it on Twitter!

Captain Grant Hanley and on loan Charlton striker Tony Watt are with Scotland, central defender Shane Duffy is with former Rover Alan Judge in the Republic of Ireland squad, whose Under-21 squad includes midfielder Darragh Lenihan.

This is Blackburn’s fourth consecutive season in the Championship after an 11-year stay in the Premier League.

In their previous seven-year spell of course, Rovers were crowned Premier League champions in 1995.

WE’VE MET BEFORE

We earned a point at Ewood Park back in November when Lasse Vibe’s 24th minute goal was cancelled out by Tom Lawrence before the break, in a match in which Marco Djuricin suffered an injury which ruled him out for two months.

Brentford earned our sixth victory in seven games in Blackburn’s last visit in mid-December 2014.

Jonathan Douglas put us early ahead on but Rudy Gestede volleyed a spectacular equaliser on the stroke of half-time.

Andre Gray restored our lead in the 55th minute with his ninth goal of the season but Ben Marshall hit a Brentford post before Jota sealed our 3-1 victory.

It was Rovers’ first visit on league duty since we beat them 2-0 in a Third Division match in October 1979.

Our visit to Blackburn last season will always be remembered for Jota’s amazing goal, where he ran more than half the length of the pitch before slotting home our second equaliser of the game.

Rudy Gestede put Rovers ahead in the fifth minute but Chris Long equalised with a deflected 44th minute shot, only for Chris Taylor to restore the hosts’ lead before the break.

Jota’s moment of genius brought the Bees back into the game before Andre Gray grabbed a late winner to keep us in the play-off places.

IN CHARGE

Paul Lambert took over in November after his predecessor Gary Bowyer was sacked following Rovers’ 1-1 draw with the Bees.

He had previously had three years in charge of both Aston Villa and before that Norwich, who he led from League One to the Premier League in successive seasons.

Paul’s managerial career began at Livingston and he went on to lead Wycombe, taking them to the Carling Cup semi-finals, and Colchester before moving to Carrow Road.

As a midfielder, he had long spells in his playing at St Mirren, Celtic and Motherwell and also played for Borussia Dortmund, where he won the Champions League, and Livingston.

SQUAD NEWS

Paul Lambert made five changes, one of which was enforced, at Ipswich on Tuesday for Rovers’ 10th game in 32 days and could shuffle his pack again on Saturday as he looks for a reaction to that defeat.

Ben Marshall, Darragh Lenihan, Jordi Gomez and Tony Watt were all on the bench but could return to the starting line-up on Saturday.

One-time Brentford target Danny Graham, who has scored three goals in nine appearances since arriving on loan from Sunderland in March, also missed the trip to Portman Road but because of a back injury and he hopes to have recovered in time to play at Griffin Park.

Midfielders Jason Lowe and Danny Guthrie and striker Nathan Delfouneso could also come into the reckoning after playing in a Premier League Under-21 match on Monday following injury lay-offs.

Lambert has recently changed Rovers’ tactics to using a diamond midfield formation to make the best use of recent arrivals Elliott Bennett and Jordi Gomez.

However he hasn’t ruled out switching back to a system in which winger Craig Conway could return to the starting line-up.

The mainstays of the side this season have been defenders Grant Hanley and Shane Duffy, who have respectively played 36 and 35 of Rovers’ Championship games, midfielder Ben Marshall, who has also played 35, and goalkeeper Jason Steele with 32.

One player who definitely misses out is midfielder Corry Evans, who has undergone an operation on a groin injury which forced him off at half-time at Ipswich on Tuesday. He is hoping to recover in time to play for Northern Ireland at Euro 2016.

IAN WESTBROOK

@ianwestbrook

Drinking in Brentford

For Blackburn fans crossing town, you are probably aware there are plenty of pub options pre-match and all are most welcoming. Colours are fine and there is no ‘bouncer culture’ on the doors of our boozers – not yet anyway. All fans are welcome and most fans usually cite Brentford as their favourite away-day which we’re quite proud of.

As is etched in common folklore , there were four pubs around the ground until a few weeks ago – unfortunately one closed down to leave only three now. The Griffin is closest to the away end (like 30 secs walk) and is very popular with away fans – but also very very busy. The New Inn is on the other side is also popular with away fans. The Princess Royal is the other option (The Royal Oak was the one that closed down).

Other pubs slightly further afield for the more creative amongst you include (and this is by no means a definitive list) the  … The Globe (Windmill Rd) is the Beesotted fanzine main pub – a very friendly pub indeed. The other boozer is The Lord Nelson (Enfield Rd)  – both incredibly friendly and cosy away-friendly pubs and 30 seconds walk from each other .. frequented by ‘away fans in the know’. Boro fans and Bees fans had one hell of a party before and after last season’s league match in both these boozers (despite us losing)- and The Plough (Northfields Ave – 1 minute walk from the tube) in Northfields is a decent stop-off if you are coming by tube to Northfields before making your way down to the ground (normally stopping off at The Globe and Lord Nelson en route on the Northfields pub crawl).

Easily the best way to Brentford is to get the Piccadilly Line from King’s Cross to either Northfields or South Ealing (35 mins).

Northfields is preferred by fans in the know as it has a decent pub crawl run on the way to the ground (Plough, Lord Nelson, Globe). South Ealing has one posh pub en route that doesn’t really like football fans so we won’t even give it a mention here. It’s 20 mins walk from either South Ealing OR Northfields to the ground or you can get the E2 bus from Northfields or 65 bus from South Ealing for the five-minute journey.

Some fans prefer to take the tube to Vauxhall, then get the overground to Brentford mainline station. Depending on your connection time, this could be a slightly longer route as you could be waiting for up to 15 minutes for a train and the train takes 26 mins to Brentford. Including your connection from King’s Cross this journey could take you the best part of an hour as opposed to under 40 minutes (plus the journey to the ground).

If you do take this route, there is also a pub right by Brentford station always referred to as … er …  the Pub by Brentford station.

For ale head to the Magpie and Crown pub on Brentford High Street. The Royal Horseguardsman can probably hold 15 of you at a push. The Brewery Tap is a cosy boozer by the river. And if you are super adventurous, get off at Kew Bridge and visit the brand new boozer One Over the Ait right on the river – beside the bridge. Great views over The Thames. It’s around 15 minutes walk to the ground from here.

There are loads more too. A quick Google search and you’ll find them all. There are many many more too if you have a look around.

Parking is pretty easy away from the ground going up towards and over the A4 Great West Road (ie. North) via Ealing Road or W