FA Cup Preview: Blackburn v Liverpool

The Championship outfit held Liverpool to a goalless draw which was no less than they deserved at Anfield a month ago.

Blackburn have already claimed the scalps of top-flight sides Swansea City and Stoke City in the competition this season, making the most of a numerical advantage in both ties.

Bowyer has steadied the ship at the Lancashire club in his two years at the helm and the Rovers boss is now plotting to ensure Brendan Rodgers is made to wait for at least another season to win his first trophy at Liverpool.

He told Perform: "The performances against Swansea and Stoke were terrific. You do need that little bit of luck against the Premiership teams and we had that in terms of those two games with the sendings off. 

"But I think back at Ewood, not on a great surface I'm afraid - credit to the ground staff, as they have worked as hard as they can - the pitch will be a great leveller and we hope we can perform as well as we did at Anfield. 

"The Premiership sides, every game has presented itself with a different challenge. It's going to be a really difficult game for us, but firstly we have earned the right to get a replay and secondly we are really looking forward to it. 

"We can concentrate on our own game plan and we want to have a right good go at them."

Rodgers has been forced to rubbish talk of dressing room unrest at Anfield and insist there was no "crisis meeting" following Sunday's 4-1 hammering at Arsenal.

The Merseyside club look unlikely to secure a UEFA Champions League spot, but Rodgers is determined to lift the FA Cup at Wembley next month.

He said: "The group is very committed to winning this trophy, but in order to do that you have to qualify and we know Blackburn will be a difficult game for us. Then we can look towards the league then and look to finish the season strongly.

"It's something we want to do as a group. We've made steady progress over a couple of seasons and arrived in a Champions League place last year and nearly won the league."

Liverpool will be without suspended trio Steven Gerrard, Martin Skrtel and Emre Can, while Mario Balotelli (knee) faces a late fitness test.

On-loan Blackburn midfielder Jay Spearing will not face his former club as the midfielder is cup-tied, while Bowyer has injury concerns over the likes of Rudy Gestede, Craig Conway, Grant Hanley, Josh King and David Dunn.