'A game both teams were desperate not to lose'

This wasn't a game for the neutral to sit down with a cup of tea and enjoy two Championship teams going head to head.

It felt very much like a game that both teams were desperate not to lose.

With six minutes of normal time to play, it looked highly likely that both head coaches could have shaken hands and taken a point each. The sign of a goal coming was pretty non existent.

Both goalkeepers were probably shivering in the East Lancashire breeze.

Then came the opener. Blackburn sloppily conceded possession, resulting in a free-kick.

As is so often the case this season at all levels, the initial ball was dealt with but the concentration level of the defending team was left wanting for the second phase.

Connor Ogilvie smashed in his first goal in 13 months, courtesy of a deflection, and it very much looked like maximum points were heading to the south coast.

For Rovers, it was a case of more home disappointment. They were going head-on into their 10th league defeat at Ewood Park this season.

To their credit, for the second time in three home games under new boss Michael O'Neill, they scored in stoppage time.

It was a Yuki Ohashi header against Preston North End. This time it was left to Hayden Carter to break the hearts of the Pompey fans who took him to their hearts during a successful loan in 2022.

Goals in back-to-back games for Carter, whose return has been one of the more welcome stories of the season.

The game could have been different had Ohashi found the net early on after being picked out by Ryoya Morishita, but he missed the target. Ohashi and Andri Gudjohnsen have both spurned huge chances in the last two games.

For a team that doesn't carve out chance after chance, being clinical is all important.

After the 3pm kick-offs, Oxford moved back into the bottom three despite being the only team to win in the bottom six.

The table will look different again before Rovers play at Oxford on Wednesday night, with Leicester and Portsmouth both at home on Tuesday night.

O'Neill told me that he felt the battle to stay up could go the distance, right to the final day.

With 10 games to go, it's the toughest of calls to say who will join Sheffield Wednesday in League One next season.

From a Rovers point of view, they can't afford their injury list to grow more names. It's highly debatable that the squad is strong enough if they do.