Blackburn 2-0 Derby County: Joe Rothwell & Bradley Dack dent Rams' play-off hopes
- Published
Bradley Dack's return from injury was one of five changes for Blackburn
Goals by Blackburn duo Joe Rothwell and Bradley Dack delivered a major dent to Derby's Championship play-off hopes.
Rothwell produced a superb chip to claim his first Rovers goal and Dack netted in stoppage time to leave Frank Lampard's side three points outside the top six.
It was Derby's first loss in six games but they have won just twice since 9 February, while Blackburn ended a run of three straight defeats.
Rothwell was making just his eighth league start since joining Rovers from Oxford last summer and he opened the scoring in style, before Dack netted his 16th goal of the season to give Tony Mowbray's men just their second win since the end of January.
Seven minutes from the end of a scrappy first half, Derby seized on a wayward Blackburn pass and constructed a quickfire counter-attack which ended with Harry Wilson firing fractionally wide.
Then, just before the break, Amari'i Bell shot just off target for Blackburn from the edge of the area.
The home side started the second half well and Danny Graham had a header from a corner scrambled away from the Derby goalmouth before Darragh Lenihan headed a good chance wide.
But, with 14 minutes remaining, Rothwell collected a lay-off by Graham and raced clear before lifting the ball superbly over Rams goalkeeper Kelle Roos.
And two minutes into stoppage time, Joe Nuttall had a shot blocked but Dack was on hand to force in the rebound.
Blackburn manager Tony Mowbray:
"It's really difficult to pick out any individual tonight because I thought the performance of the team is what stood out and the result mirrored that.
"We could have scored more goals tonight and probably deserved to. But, take the three points, put them in the bag.
"When you've been on the run we've been on, you do half look over your shoulder.
"Tonight, we got to 50 points - though we went down two seasons ago with 51 - but we've got to keep playing, express ourselves and pick up as many points as we can."
Derby manager Frank Lampard:
"The performance wasn't good, and we've not been like that. Our performances have been good in the last batch of games.
"Today it wasn't, and you drop your standards in this league, if a lot of your players in the team are not at their best, it's hard to win games so I can't complain.
"This is the Championship and we see teams across the board have these moments.
"Finding the consistency is everyone's battle but we're not in a position to moan because we know what we're capable of and we have to get back to it quickly."
