Comment by Denis Smith

"AS A Stoke City fan, I’m hoping Big Sam Allardyce’s absence will work to our advantage at Ewood Park tomorrow.

While we all wish him the best with his heart surgery today corr, you can’t help but weight up the consequences of his absence from the Rovers dug-out.

If you’re winning, the manager’s pre-match absence doesn’t really matter because things tick over nicely anyway.

But if you’ve just lost 3-0 at Fulham, as Blackburn did on Wednesday, then that’s when you need the boss there getting in people’s faces to rouse his players.

That said, there’s always a chance Big Sam has got his phone back from the missus and is on the blower to his deputy, Neil McDonald.

And Sam will know his players well enough to tell Neil who needs the proverbial kick up the backside and who needs the arm around the shoulder.

Blackburn have always had a pretty good home record and this season is no exception. You also look at their players and there seems to be a good mix of reliability, experience and flair.

Mind you, there’s a couple such as Pascal Chimbonda and El Hadji Diouf who Tony Pulis probably wouldn’t fancy because they’re not the most disciplined and consistent in the world.

The one everyone up there is raving about at the moment is David Dunn after seeing him bag half-a-dozen goals from midfield.

He was once skipper of an England under-21s team featuring many of today’s senior stars, so the ability has always been there.

In their last home game, against Portsmouth, they started with only one up front, but later switched to 4-4-2 and went on to win the game.

They’ll look at Stoke and think they don’t have to flood the midfield, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see them go 4-4-2 again.

There’s plenty of height in the side when you look at 6ft 4in striker Franco di Santo, the lad on loan from Chelsea, while there’s no shortage of inches at the back either.

So they’ll be a big threat at set-pieces, and that’s why I feel sure Andy Wilkinson will be the unlucky one to miss out in Stoke’s defence.

I don’t envy Tony having to make that call because I’m sure he’d desperately want to reward Andy with another starting place after his great display last Sunday.

But there’s no way Tony can leave out Huth’s height for this one, while you have to go with Abdoulaye Faye’s experience and presence by recalling him straight away from his one-match ban.

Like I say, tough on young Andy, but this is the Premier League and there can be no room for sentiment.

I fancy Glenn Whelan will be back in Stoke’s midfield to play alongside Dean Whitehead.

I know I’m a bit biased where Dean is concerned because I brought him through at Oxford, but you need your dogs of war for fixtures like this and he definitely falls into that category.

That would mean Rory Delap playing on the right again and so Liam Lawrence could be unlucky once more.

Stoke’s squad is such these days that I’m afraid Tony will inevitably upset someone along the way because you can only pick 11.

At least the front pairing of James Beattie and Ricardo Fuller selects itself, fitness permitting, because you’ve got to go with their pedigree and experience.

Ricardo’s first league goal last week will have done him the world of good.

All strikers, however confident they might appear, need goals. Without them, they start snatching at chances or hesitating that split second and the opportunity has gone.

Last week’s winner against Pompey was pure quality, so let’s hope for more of the same now he’s broken that duck."