Preston North End midfielder Paul Gallagher admits that it could be ‘written in the stars’ that he scores his 100th career goal against the club he came through the ranks with.
The Lilywhites’ No.12, who could captain the side at Ewood Park, depending on whether Tom Clarke returns to the side or not after injury, is looking forward to returning to his former employers, but whilst he would love to score, would be happier just to see his side collect the three points.
“I’ve always enjoyed going back to Blackburn,” he told iFollow PNE to look forward to the game. “Everyone knows I started my career there and had a good time, but the times I have been back with PNE, we have done really well, so I am looking forward to it.
“We are on a good run and have the momentum with us. Blackburn have had a bad patch, but it’s a local derby and things go out of the window. We will look to go there and get the three points.
“Winning games breeds confidence and when you are not on that winning form, you can be a bit negative. We will go there with a great backing; the best team in the league form wise, but we need to go there and stamp our authority on the game and aim to take the three points.
“It would be nice to get my 100th goal there – it could be written in the stars that. A lot of my friends wouldn’t be happy, but I will just take us winning.
“When that 100th goal comes, it comes; whether that is Saturday or the last game of the season, it will come, but the most important thing for me is for the team to win the game.”
Gally obviously keeps a close eye on Rovers, so what has he made of their season so far?
“They should be happy with where they are,” he continued. “They came back from League One at the first attempt, which is a great achievement, but football fans get carried away.
“They started really well this season and probably thought they could push on into the Play-Offs, but if you had said at the start of the season they would be where they are now, at this stage, with the points they have got, I think they would be happy. But the way they started the season, they probably wanted to be a bit higher.
“It is one of those games that is going to be feisty. They are going to want to get back to winning games and we want to keep the momentum going and push on towards the Play-Offs, so it should be a good game and a good advertisement for the Championship.”
The 34-year-old has played in the last two trips to Ewood Park, with following over 6,000 on both occasions. This time it looks set be 7,500 backing PNE and he thinks the fans can play a huge part in the result.
“The last two times we have been there, we have taken a good following and you need that – especially in local derbies.
“In the second half, when you are shooting towards it, it can feel like they are sucking the ball into the net and that’s almost what happened the last time we were there when we got an equaliser right at the end with Geads [Aiden McGeady] scoring.
“It is a great achievement to take 7,500 fans to an away game, but we have to go and put in a performance to make it a good day for them,” he added.