This article is part of Football League World's 'The Verdict' series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Blackburn Rovers climbed to fourth place in victory over Stoke City at the weekend keeping supporters believing that they can push on to finish in the play-offs this term.

There was a lot of uncertainty around Tony Mowbray's position in the dugout at Ewood Park in the summer and with no visible replacement for Adam Armstrong, Rovers looked in a tight spot. However, be it Ben Brereton Diaz's overwhelming improvement or Mowbray's management to improve the squad at his disposal, Blackburn are mixing it at the top end of the division.

It still feels like a bit of a pipedream to suggest they will stay there for the duration of the season but the longer it goes on, the more Rovers will be taken seriously as play-off contenders. With five wins in their last seven Rovers are finishing 2021 in style.

Here, we gathered the thoughts of a selection of FLW writers to see if they believe Rovers will finish in the top six this season...

Josh Cole

When you consider just how impressive Blackburn have been in an attacking sense this season, they unquestionably have a fantastic chance of securing a top-six finish in the Championship in 2022.

Ben Brereton Diaz has set the second-tier alight with his performances in recent months as he has already scored 16 goals at this level for Rovers whilst Tyrhys Dolan and Sam Gallagher have also impressed.

The one obstacle that Blackburn will need to overcome in order to reach the play-offs is their tendency to concede goals as they have only managed to keep five clean-sheets in the second-tier.

By building upon their recent defensive displays against Peterborough United and Stoke City in the coming months, Rovers could go on to achieve a great deal of success in this division.

Jordan Rushworth

It has certainly been a very good first part of the season for Blackburn Rovers and they are showing a lot of signs to suggest that they have enough quality to sustain their top-six push this term. That has come despite some supporters even questioning whether Tony Mowbray has taken them maybe as far as he can.

The crucial thing for Blackburn is whether or not they avoid any serious injury issues to their most influential performers. Should that happen then there would have to be major doubts over whether the strength in depth would be enough to get them over the line in a push for the play-off places.

Furthermore, were Blackburn forced to sell off Ben Brereton Diaz in January then that would be a huge loss for them and his goals would be almost impossible for them to replace. They did not really replace Adam Armstrong in the summer, and so losing another one of their best-attacking talents could prove fatal to their play-off ambitions.

However, if Blackburn keep hold of Brereton Diaz and avoid injury issues then there is reason to believe that they have enough within their squad to challenge for promotion throughout the campaign.

 

 

Charlie Gregory

With the team that Blackburn have, there is every chance they can finish in the top six.

Some Rovers fans may point to their current boss Tony Mowbray as a reason why they are perhaps ‘bound to fall out of the play-offs’ but credit where credit is due, he has compiled a solid squad and is getting good results.

Every challenging team needs a goalscorer and Blackburn have one of those too in Ben Brereton-Diaz. They also have a solid backline and some promising young talent like Tyrhys Dolan.

Other teams in the league will fancy their chances of claiming a play-off spot over Blackburn this year but looking at some of the teams not currently there, are there really many better than Rovers are right now?

I certainly fancy them, with the way they are playing and if Brereton-Diaz can continue his fine form, to bag one.