Hope Akpan: ‘Blackburn Rovers on the up’

Midfielder Hope Akpan has urged Blackburn to build on their current upturn in form ahead of the upcoming international break.

Rovers are unbeaten in their last three outings following draws at QPR and Hull City, with a 3-0 home win over Charlton sandwiched between the two games.

Gary Bowyer’s side are now up to 18th place in the Championship table after a slow start, although they left it late to secure a point at the KC Stadium last time out after striker Jordan Rhodes struck in injury-time to secure a 1-1 draw.

Akpan, who came off the bench inside 10 minutes against the Tigers after Danny Guthrie suffered a thigh injury, now wants the men from Ewood Park to carry on their solid form against Ipswich on Saturday.

The Tractor Boys have won just once in their last five Championship matches to slip out of the play-off places and Akpan wants to extend their poor run.

“I was always confident results would pick up,” Nigeria international Akpan told the Lancashire Telegraph. “As a team we work hard and do the right things and I think we were just lacking that little bit of luck.

“But we’ve had some good performances and some good results now and we feel like we’re building something and that we’ve got some momentum building.

“So hopefully we can win that last game before the international break as that will stand us in good stead for the rest of the season, compared to the start of the season.

Rovers are 2.20 for a home win this weekend against Mick McCarthy’s Ipswich (3.20) while the draw is 3.30.