Adam Forshaw says Blackburn Rovers must make their home form a priority, with Saturday’s meeting with Middlesbrough at Ewood Park offering an early chance to put that right.
Blackburn won only four league home games last season and, in the end, had to rely on their away record to secure safety. That makes the first home league game of the new campaign a significant marker, especially with Middlesbrough arriving after finishing fifth and losing in the play-offs last season.
Forshaw did not try to dress it up. “There’s no hiding from it, the home form wasn’t good enough last season and that’s something that simply we want to improve on, starting on Saturday,” he said.
The message is a straightforward one: Blackburn know where the weakness was, and they know what the next step has to be. The opening-night trip to Wolves offered some encouragement, and Forshaw believes there is value in taking that feeling into home fixtures too.
What Blackburn can take from Wolves
Forshaw said the away performance showed what the team can produce when the conditions are right. He pointed to the travelling support as a factor, saying it “geed us up” and helped make it “a great night, a good occasion”.
There was also a reminder of a more practical problem from last season. Blackburn scored a couple of goals at Wolves, which Forshaw noted was an issue at times across the previous campaign. In his view, that is exactly the sort of improvement they now need to transfer to Ewood Park.
“Hopefully, we can take that into our home form now,” he said. “That is something we really want to improve on.”
Facing a familiar opponent
The fixture also has a personal angle for Forshaw, who is up against his former club Middlesbrough. Boro arrive with a stronger recent league finish than Blackburn, but the home side will see this as the sort of test that can tell them plenty about where they stand early on.
Forshaw was upbeat about Blackburn’s dressing room and the belief inside it. “I think it probably surprised some people; people were probably trying to write us off early on,” he said. “But we know what we’ve got in the dressing room.”
He added that the group improved as the season went on, even if they could not quite see games out when it mattered most. “We got better and better but unfortunate in the end, we just couldn’t close the game out,” he said. “But plenty of positives.”
That confidence is built on continuity as much as anything else. Forshaw said Blackburn have “quality” and “grit” in the squad, and believes that with a healthy group available they can still have a decent season. It is a fair summary of where they are: good enough to cause problems, but still with something to prove at home.
Saturday will not decide the season, but it will tell Blackburn whether the lessons from last year are already being applied. For Forshaw, the target is clear: turn the home record into a strength rather than a concern.
