Blackburn Rovers have suffered an injury blow ahead of their trip to Coventry City this week with the news that the club’s first choice goalkeeper is a major doubt for the Championship fixture. Jon Dahl Tomasson’s men head to the Coventry Building Society Arena with the joint highest number of goals conceded in the division with 20 – an unwanted record they share with Southampton – with 15 of those coming in their last five league games.
Rovers’ latest defensive collapse saw them thumped 4-1 by Leicester City at Ewood Park on Sunday, during which No.1 keeper Aynsley Pears limped off with an ankle injury just after the hour, replaced by Leopold Wahlstedt, who is untried at the level. The 25-year-old couldn’t apply any weight on his right ankle which makes him a major doubt for Wednesday night’s trip to face the Sky Blues and then Queens Park Rangers away on Saturday when Wahlstedt is on standby to get his chance to impress.
The 24-year-old Swede has one friendly senior cap for his country and joined Rovers for an undisclosed fee from Norwegian side Odd in August, having previously been linked with interest from Manchester United. He made his Championship debut when he replaced Pears against Leicester when he conceded two goals in the closing stages. Tomasson, however, is confident he will be ready to deputise if Pears is, as anticipated, unavailable for the away matches.
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“If you can’t walk on it, it doesn’t look that great,” Tomasson admitted about Pears’ injury. “I haven’t got the report yet but if you can’t walk on your foot you probably won’t be playing for the next while.
“We will wait for the report. It was a good opportunity for Leo today. He got his biggest game in his career so far against Cardiff and against probably a Premier League today. We are sure about the potential of Leo for sure but he hasn’t played at this level before like some other players we have.”
Blackburn fans have been keen to see Wahlstedt in action and will now seemingly get that opportunity after the player has previously been limited to two Carabao Cup appearances. He kept a clean sheet against Harrogate Town in the 8-0 win and conceded twice against Cardiff last week. One goal was from range and another was a smart finish inside the area.
