Blackburn: It’s not the despair – it’s the hope

In the film "Clockwise" John Cleese - marooned with a broken-down car somewhere in the middle of Norfolk - uttered the anguished words: "It's not the despair, Laura. I can stand the despair. It's the hope..."

Well Laura, Blackburn arrive at The Valley on Saturday in pretty moribund form having taken two points from their last six league games during which they have scored one goal. One goal in nine hour's football means they have dropped to eighteenth place - only five places above their hosts.

Meanwhile Charlton (scorers of twice as many goals in the last nine hours) have appointed a newish head coach, signed an experienced defender and welcomed back their Scottish prodigal son. Furthermore, it might be the case that our bright young star of the future could be back in the squad after injury.

So are there grounds for some dreaded hope?

Jose Riga has had a week with the squad and will hope to have had some positive influence on both the on-field organisation and, perhaps more importantly, the team's morale and confidence. After all, this is the man who coaxed hat tricks from Callum Harriot and Marvin Sordell two years ago. We will surely see some sort of lift on Saturday.

It is nearly a year ago that Tony Watt arrived and almost single-handedly galvanised Charlton's fortunes. Could this happen again? Jorge Teixeira is a 29 year old defender who has been a regular for Standard Liege this season. His inclusion must strengthen us at the back. Ademola Lookman may not be ready to start the game but could he make an impact from the bench?

Blackburn manager Paul Lambert has moved this week to address his club's problems by signing Sunderland striker Danny Graham on loan until the end of the season. Should we be worried?  Well, Graham has hardly been a prolific striker since leaving Watford five years ago. He certainly hasn't cut it in the Premier League. He only scored one goal in 2015 and that was a deflection, so no worries there.

The problem is more likely to be Jordan Rhodes who has scored six goals in his last three appearances against Charlton. But this time it will be different. He hasn't come up against Jorge Teixeira before so I'm sure we can safely assume he won't be troubling us at all this time.

Yes, a win looks nailed on. And a demonstration in the car park after a win carries so much more moral authority.