Blackburn Rovers find themselves in a worrying position in the Championship table right now.
As things stand, John Eustace‘s side currently occupy 18th in the second-tier standings. That leaves them just three points clear of the relegation zone, with nine games to go.
Of course, such a position means that a drop into League One can obviously not be ruled out come the end of the season.
Indeed, with the fixtures Blackburn Rovers still have to play between now and the end of the season, there may be some concerns around Ewood Park that a drop into the third-tier is a distinct possibility.
Blackburn Rovers facing tough end to the season
There is no getting around the fact that Eustace and his team have a lot of tough fixtures still to come before the campaign ends.
Of the nine teams they have left to play this season, seven currently occupy spots in the top half of the table.
That includes all of the current top four teams – Leicester City, Leeds United, Ipswich Town and Southampton.
Under Eustace though, Blackburn Rovers are yet to win in seven league games. That is a number of those fixtures being played against team who like them are battling relegation, such as Birmingham City, Swansea City, Millwall and Plymouth Argyle.
So if they have not been able to win against those around them, there will be a fair amount of concern about how they will get the wins they need to stay up, against the division’s stronger teams.
However, there is an argument that one match they have played since Eustace took over, should give Blackburn Rovers hope that they can in fact do that.
Newcastle United tie must be the standard
While things have not gone as Eustace would have hoped in the league, he did deliver one memorable night for the club in the FA Cup last month.
That came when Newcastle United made the trip to Ewood Park for a fifth round tie. Despite the Premier League side being heavy favourites and naming a strong starting XI, it was Blackburn Rovers who won much of the praise for their performance in that game.
Indeed, while the Magpies would ultimately win through on penalties, Eustace may have felt his side were somewhat unlucky not to have claimed victory when they got to that point.
Now, that match can be used as a cause for hope for Blackburn Rovers when it comes to their league run-in.
Just as was the case that FA Cup match, the league table suggests that they will be underdogs in almost all of the games they have left to play this season.
Given those circumstances led to what is comfortably their best performance under Eustace, Blackburn Rovers may well hope they can produce some similarly excellent backs to the walls display.
If they are able to do that against teams who do not quite have the same Premier League quality as Newcastle United at this moment in time, that draw against the Magpies, might become a win in some of these scenarios.
Those results could in turn, then prove crucial to any chances the club have of clawing themselves to safety.
With that in mind, it seems that from the worrying position right now, that FA Cup clash does at least offer Blackburn Rovers some cause for optimism, ahead of what is still to come.