Blackburn Rovers surrendered a 2-0 lead at The Hawthorns on Saturday, 17 October, losing 3-2 to West Bromwich Albion after Felix Horn Myhre struck in the 90th minute. Andri Gudjohnsen's brace was not enough, as the Lancashire Telegraph reported, and a promising away performance collapsed into a defeat that Tony Mowbray's side will struggle to rationalise.
Yet according to BBC analysis published on 20 October, the result is far from a disaster. Six points from three games in a week following the international break would have been accepted by most supporters before the fixture list unfolded. The defeat stings, but the broader picture at Ewood Park remains one of progress shadowed by a recurring structural weakness: Rovers cannot hold a lead.
What happened at The Hawthorns?
For 12 minutes, everything aligned. Gudjohnsen, fit and confident since switching to the number nine shirt in the summer, produced two finishes the BBC compared to Alan Shearer: the first a strike from outside the penalty area, the second the instinctive poaching of a loose ball after West Brom failed to clear a corner.
Then the pattern that has defined Blackburn's season reasserted itself. West Brom responded with what the BBC described as bravery and defiance, earning back-to-back victories for a third time this season. Rovers, as the BBC noted, will be disappointed with their game management, having previously lost only two of 10 league games on the road.
The goals conceded against Wolves, Sheffield United, Portsmouth, Cardiff and West Brom share a common thread, according to the BBC's assessment: opponents were granted too much time and space in central areas, just inside or outside the box, and they punished Rovers for it. The club has led against Sheffield United, QPR and now West Brom, and lost all three. It has led away at Wolves and Portsmouth and settled for a point each time.
Thirteen points slipped away
Only seven teams have scored more league goals than Rovers this season. Only nine have conceded more. Sixteen goals conceded in 11 games have slowed a campaign that began brightly, and the BBC calculates that 13 points have slipped away from winning positions.
It is tempting to read this purely as a tactical problem, and Mowbray's system choices are part of it. He has alternated between a back four and a back five, though the BBC reports his preferred shape is a four. Yuri Ribeiro at left-back and Scott Wharton at centre-back are expected to push for starting places in the next fortnight, increasing competition across a defensive unit that has repeatedly buckled under pressure.
But squandered leads are rarely only about formations. They are about what happens collectively when a group stops believing it deserves what it has earned. A team that repeatedly converts advantage into defeat is not simply unlucky; it has internalised fragility. Deconstrucing that pattern is as much a psychological and communal project as a coaching one.
Injuries and the limits of the squad
Ryoya Morishita's ankle injury compounded the late defeat. His ever-present record looks likely to end against Wrexham on Saturday. If he is unavailable, five senior players will be sidelined, which the BBC notes still represents a relatively healthy position compared with recent seasons.
Mowbray has never hesitated to leave good players out, and the BBC suggests further selection decisions are coming. Who he trusts to protect a lead may define whether this squad converts its attacking fluency into something durable.
Why the crowd matters
Football clubs like Blackburn Rovers remain one of the few genuinely communal institutions left in towns hollowed out by decades of extraction, austerity and neglect. Ewood Park gathers working-class Lancashire communities week after week, and the emotional labour of supporting a side that keeps letting leads slip is real, unequally felt, and rarely acknowledged.
When public provision shrinks, as it has across Lancashire, the football ground becomes one of the last shared spaces. That is why the fate of a mid-table Championship side deserves analysis alongside the policing of boredom in places like Rainhill, where dispersal zones replace funded youth provision. Both stories are about what communities are offered when the state withdraws, and what people build for themselves anyway.
What happens next for Rovers?
Wrexham visit on Saturday, and Morishita's absence would test the squad's depth. Ribeiro and Wharton returning to contention offers Mowbray options he has lacked. The question is whether those options translate into the defensive discipline that 13 dropped points demand.
The BBC's verdict is measured: a bright start, plenty to be encouraged by, and a clear problem to solve. West Brom deserved their victory on the day. Whether Blackburn's season is judged a success will depend on the less glamorous work of protecting what has already been won.
Frequently asked questions
What was the score between West Brom and Blackburn Rovers?
West Bromwich Albion won 3-2 at The Hawthorns on Saturday, 17 October 2026, with Felix Horn Myhre scoring the winning goal in the 90th minute, after Blackburn had led 2-0 through two Andri Gudjohnsen goals.
How many points have Blackburn Rovers lost from winning positions?
According to the BBC, 13 points have slipped away from winning positions this season, including defeats against Sheffield United, QPR and West Brom after taking the lead.
Who is injured for Blackburn Rovers?
Ryoya Morishita picked up an ankle injury in the West Brom defeat, and the BBC reports his ever-present record looks likely to end against Wrexham. If unavailable, he would become the fifth senior player currently sidelined.