Dan Clough blog: Let's remind Burnley who is pride of Lancashire (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Dan Clough blog: Let's remind Burnley who is pride of Lancashire

4:10pm Tuesday 27th November 2012 in Football By Dan Clough, Reporter

TWO equally important local derby matches loom, although for obvious reasons one is far more eagerly anticipated than the other.

Saturday’s defeat was not ideal as we prepare for the trip along the M65 on Sunday, so a result tomorrow really is needed to ensure we go to the Turf with heads up, ready for a fight.

I’m not overly disheartened, despite seeing us lose 2-0 at home.

I felt we played okay, but Millwall were excellent.

They are now unbeaten in 11 and you can see why.

Bolton games in recent years leave a nasty taste in the mouth.

Until recently we were one of their biggest bogey sides. That was until Venky’s took over.

The game at the Reebok that turned out to be Big Sam’s last as Rovers boss was a real sickener.

I was still bouncing up and down and facing the wrong way when I heard the Bolton fans’ roar and it was obvious what had happened.

Stuart Holden had scored immediately from the restart, wiping out Rovers’ equaliser and giving the Whites an undeserved three points in a game we had dominated.

A win would have taken us up to about seventh in the Premier League, but it wasn’t good enough and Sam was sacked.

The rest is history.

The most recent memory of Bolton at Ewood is possibly my worst memory as a Blackburn Rovers supporter.

Losing 2-1 at home to a local rival was bad enough. But the atmosphere was horrible. The nationals lapped it up and slated us, but on the day this newspaper ran a front page editorial headlined ‘Time to go Steve’, there was really little else to expect after Mark Davies set the ball rolling for another defeat after just five minutes.

It was a cold, wet, horrible night that will live long in the memory for all the wrong reasons.

On the flip side, games against Burnley hold very positive memories. And indeed they have done for longer than my entire lifetime.

I am 25 and never in all those years have our neighbours get one over on us.

I must confess to being more than a bit nervous ahead of Sunday’s game, especially seeing the form Charlie Austin has been in.

But I still believe we are turning a corner and with the typically strong Rovers following, whom have been charged the princely sum of £36.50, we really should show them who’s the real pride of East Lancashire.

• Rovers fans, myself included, have always lived in the past.

Rarely does an away game pass without a Kenny Dalglish chant or a reminder to the opposition that yes, we won the Premier League, albeit almost 20 years ago.

Football is all about reminiscing, and for that reason I got all misty-eyed when I heard suggestions of a return to Ewood for Brad Friedel.

I don’t care if he’s 100 years old, he’s still the best keeper we have had in God knows how long.

And if there is a coaching role in it for him then age doesn’t matter.

Fingers crossed for this one in January.