While Blackburn have only a single clean sheet to show from its first four outings, a difficult opening schedule (EVE, bir, ARS, mcy) was always going to test the Rovers resolve. However, recognised as one of the “highs” in Andy’s recent “Frisking The Fixtures” article, things are about to turn around with a tasty run of fixtures (FUL, blp, stk, SUN) that starts this coming weekend against Fulham at Ewood. With Bobby Zamora’s injury severely hampering the visitors firepower, the Rovers duo of Phil Jones (4.5) and Chris Samba (5.0) are riding high in our Watchlist rankings.

While Jones is a fresh new talent who has caught the eye in Fantasy terms due to his new holding midfield role, Samba has been a mainstay in Blackburn rearguard for several years and has duly earned the Rovers captaincy.

A physically imposing force, who can dominate opponents, Samba has recently garnered plaudits (but not bonus points) for his critical role in last weekend’s draw at Manchester City, culminating in his clearance of a goal-bound effort by Jo in the closing minutes.

To this point, Samba has yet to make an impact in Fantasy terms. But while he has no additional points to show for his efforts, the security of his playing time and his four goals and 12 bonus points last season hint that he could well justify investment, even over the precocious talents of team-mate Jones.

Samba sits in a classic position of being “due” for a goal, with a run of fixtures kind enough to jump-start his scoring efforts. Always a threat from set-pieces, Samba has logged 3 attempts at goal (1 on target) in the first four games which ranks up with the top defenders in the league. Only four defenders have won more aerial duels – reiterating his power in this department and with Morten Gamst-Pedersen’s long throws adding to the Blackburn armoury, Samba’s role for these on the near post also promises assists. Add the fact that Sam Allardyce will throw his big skipper up into the attack when chasing games and Samba clearly presents the potential for attacking points with the promise of clean sheet returns over the coming gameweeks.