After falling behind 1-0 within the first five minutes, the visitors tied the score through rookie Arnor Sigurdsson, only for Ipswich to retake the lead three goals before halftime.
Massimo Luongo’s goal with just over ten minutes left in regulation gave the hosts a 4-3 triumph after Rovers once more rallied to tie the score at 3-3.
While the visitors may feel that they should have won that match and that their failure in East Anglia was the result of a few individual mistakes, the truth is that Rovers have now lost three straight league games and have given up 11 goals in that span.
They have lost ground in the current Championship standings as a result of that run, and on present form, a repetition of last season’s play-off push, where they just missed out on the playoffs on the final day of the season due to goal differential, does not seem likely.
However, Rovers will have been frustrated and worried as they left Portman Road on Saturday night for other reasons besides the outcome.
What has changed since Ryan Hedges’ injury at Ipswich?
At Portman Road on Saturday, Ryan Hedges was introduced from the substitutes bench at halftime but failed to have much of an impact for Blackburn.
In that game, the winger was only able to play for nine minutes before being removed due to an injury of his own.
In response to that setback, Rovers head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson would say that he worries Hedges will now be sidelined for “while” with what appears to be a hamstring issue.
As a result, it appears that the Ewood Park club will be without one of their many choices for an extended period of time, which might make the transaction Blackburn reportedly failed to complete on the final day of this summer’s transfer window, an expensive one.
On the day of the deadline, which signings were Blackburn unable to make?
In terms of both incoming and exiting players, the final hours of this summer’s transfer market turned out to be quite hectic at Ewood Park.
The Ewood Park club sealed the permanent signing of striker Semir Telalovic from Borussia Monchengladbach on deadline day after center back James Hill had arrived on a season-long loan from Bournemouth in the hours prior.
In the meantime, John Buckley and Jack Vale would both leave Rovers on the penultimate day of the market and temporarily join Sheffield Wednesday and Lincoln City, respectively.
On deadline day, things for Blackburn could have been considerably busier. Gregg Broughton, the club’s director of football, said after the market had closed that the club had also completed a medical to recruit a right winger on loan from a team in the Bundesliga, but that deal had fallen through due to financial difficulties.
Could Hedges’ injury have been more manageable for Blackburn with that addition?
Missing out on any such further arrivals was always going to be painful for the club because it was clear that Blackburn wanted to bolster that position, and with the apparent lack of depth in their squad, that frustration now seems to have been increased even more.
Given that Hedges now appears to be sidelined for a sizable amount of time, Rovers will have a right-wing option available for the foreseeable future in the spot where the Welshman has spent the majority of his time with the team.
As a result, Blackburn may find it difficult to accept that they missed out on a signing in that position even before Hedges sustained that injury because they are aware that if they had been able to complete that deal on deadline day, they would have had the additional depth needed to handle the 28-year-old’s absence.
As it stands, there is no more pressure than there would have been had that deal gone through to cover the gap on the right side of the club’s attack.
It’s also important to note that Hedges, who is 28 years old, is the senior member of the Rovers team who is the oldest. If the transaction had gone through, having a second presence in the building may have also helped the club deal with that, especially if the winger they were scheduled to sign is one who has himself been around for some time. Rovers may miss his experience, which is another thing they may miss in his absence.
