Blackburn's new manager Michael Appleton has said that he wants the club to challenge for a promotion spot come the end of the season, and he has identified a few January signings in order to help the club do so.

The Championship club Blackburn Rovers will not be hurrying the appointment of the next manager according to the global advisor of the club, Shebby Singh. The club recently sacked the manager Henning Berg, who was appointed only 57 days ago.

This was done due to the run of poor results, which left the team with just one victory in the last 10 matches in the league. This has meant that they have ambition of finishing in the automatic promotion spot has been destroyed, while the possibility of Blackburn finishing in the play-offs also remains a major doubt.

The Blackburn Rovers manager Henning Berg has said that the team needs to improve the basics in order to find a good form in the Championship. Henning Berg was recently appointed as replacement for Steve Kean.

Blackburn Rovers plays Brighton and Hove Albion on 22 December at Blackburn and the favourites are the home team with odds of around 16/11. A Brighton and Hove Albion win is priced at around 2/1 with a draw at 23/10.

Betting on Blackburn Rovers also makes sense from a statistical viewpoint as they have a good record of home wins over Brighton. In fact out of their last fourteen competitive matches they have won 42% of matches and Brighton has won 22%, with around 36% ending in draws. In those matches Blackburn Rovers scored a total of 21 draws and Brighton and Hove Albion scored 17.

Blackburn Rovers will not be making a swift decision when it comes to appointing the replacement for the former manager Steve Kean, who recently handed out his resignation from the post, according to the global advisor of the club.

The Blackburn Rovers caretaker manager Eric Black has said that he would definitely be interested in being considered for the role as the prominent manager of the club.

The Championship club Blackburn Rovers are currently in talks with the Turkish international Colin Kazim-Richards, who has been likened to Gareth Bale.

It is thought that the Championship club would be interested in bringing the Turkish international on a season long loan deal, with a view of making it permanent if they are promoted to the Premier league.

Blackburn manager Steve Kean is thought to be looking at the possibility of bringing QPR striker Jamie Mackie to Ewood Park in the summer transfer window. The QPR forward has been linked with a move away from the club after failing to impress manager Mark Hughes, who is looking to bring in several high profile players to the club in the summer.

French perspective
Against Ukraine, France were afforded the space they were denied against England, and took advantage in devastating fashion: Benzema was largely faultless and Jeremy Menez made the most of his start. Given that England found Sweden to be willing victims, France can almost certainly expect to take three points and ensure progress to the quarter-finals.

The future of Blackburn manager Steve Kean is still under doubt after it was revealed that Blackburn are yet to make a decision even after two days of talks.