Blackburn Rovers wide man Elliott Bennett has outlined that the club are targeting play-offs this season, following their 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough at the weekend.

Tony Mowbray has managed to build a very solid side at Ewood Park, to the point that they are genuinely in with a shout of challenging for the play-offs, as we head into the back end of the season.

Having lost Bradley Dack to an ACL injury that will see him most likely miss most of 2020, not many will have expected the Rovers to keep up their push up their table without their talisman. 

However, with 30 games played and a current four-game unbeaten run under their belts, Blackburn currently find themselves just six points off the play-off places and feeling very confident in their chances of taking advantage of the lack of consistency in the promotion chase this season.

Speaking to the club’s official website, Elliott Bennet says the squad are in high spirits and confident in their own abilities heading into the last 16 games of the season. He stated: “There are so many games coming up for us, if we can put a run together we can really shoot up the league.

“We know what our target is and we need to aim for those top six places.

“There are still 16 games to go so we’ll look to see how many points we can accumulate to hopefully get ourselves into the play-offs.

“You can’t set targets because this league is crazy. When you look at the results, with Wigan winning away at Leeds, the games are crazy.

“All we can do is prepare for one game, look to get the points, then prepare for the next one.

“It’s about how many points we can get. If we get enough then we deserve to be in the play-offs, if we don’t then the teams that have more deserve to get in there."

Spending their second season in the Championship after promotion from League One, they have had more time to consolidate their place and look further up the table.

Bennett added: “This year is completely different to last season. We’d just got promoted, not that it’s an excuse, and we lost a couple of key players around this time of the season.

“The games kept coming and we just couldn’t get that win, although I can’t remember how many games we went through without a win.

“That experience is only going to be good for the group this time around and we’re determined to ensure it doesn’t happen again and we can make February a really good month for us."

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The verdict

There is absolutely no reason why Blackburn can’t get a run together and seriously mount a push for the top six this season.

Having recently travelled to Hillsborough and putting five past Sheffield Wednesday, they have more than proven that they can mix it with the sides also looking to the play-off places.

They have a great chance at the weekend to prove their credentials when they welcome third-placed Fulham to Ewood Park, knowing that a win could close the gap to the top six even more.

There is a long way to go yet and six points is a gap that could easily stretch if their form dips, but Bennett has every right to be confident after recent weeks.