Valerien Ismael demands ‘control’ from Blackburn Rovers after his previous Ipswich Town meeting

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Blackburn Rovers are looking for back-to-back Championship victories for the first time this season as they welcome Ipswich Town to Ewood Park.

The Tractor Boys lead the head-to-head against Rovers, and Kieran McKenna has won both of his two previous games against the Lancashire outfit.

However, this has not been the easiest of starts to the season for the Suffolk side, and it took until last weekend for them to pick up their first victory of the campaign. Yet, it was an impressive 5-0 win over Sheffield United that saw them off the mark.

Now, Blackburn are looking to put their own relatively awkward start behind them and Valerien Ismael will be keen to use his past experience against Ipswich to help his team.

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Valerien Ismael was concerned with one factor vs Ipswich Town previously

It was back in the 2023/24 campaign when Ismael faced up to the Tractor Boys. He was the manager of Watford at the time, and his former side were beaten 2-1 at Vicarage Road.

The Frenchman had a tough time in Hertfordshire, and he was never quite able to get his ideas across and this was clear to see against Ipswich, and he had one complaint in the defeat.

Ismael said in December 2023 (via: Ipswich Star): “We are really disappointed to lose the game like that, especially at the end. It was another tough game for us, three days after the Southampton game, but I think we showed again that we are ready to compete, ready to show our level.

“In the first-half the issue was our own forced mistakes. In the build-up we were under big pressure and gave the ball away. You need more control and at the end of the first half we made it, we got control and that made it easier for us to play. Ipswich dropped and we had control in the opponent’s half.”

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Blackburn Rovers must adapt to Ipswich Town’s evolution

While Ipswich were a dominant force in the Championship during their last visit, after their season in the Premier League, expectations have grown and they head into nearly every game as the favourites.

For Ismael, he will know that his Blackburn side are the underdogs, and ensuring that they remain defensively solid is vital after the Tractor Boys finally got their shooting boots on against Sheffield United.

Sammie Szmodics still loves Rovers, but those at Ewood Park know the threat that he brings and it’s extremely important that they do not allow the Republic of Ireland international to run the show in Lancashire as he has done so many times in the past.

McKenna is slowly getting his team back to their very best and this new-found confidence could be a real threat to a Blackburn side whose inconsistency could come back to haunt them this weekend.