Peter White runs the rule over Tranmere Rovers

BOTH sides will field relatively-new strikers at Ewood tomorrow and that could well turn the spotlight on the rival keepers, John Filan and John Achterberg.

With Egil Ostenstad eager to follow his Norwich double by netting for the first time at Ewood and Tranmere's Wayne Allison looking for his maiden goals, after his transfer from Huddersfield, the penalty areas could be busy places.

The likes of Ashley Ward, Matt Jansen and Tranmere striker David Kelly will also be aiming to get off the mark for the new campaign.

So the keepers could be crucial figures and the statistics provided by Opta, the official player-performance analysts to the Nationwide Football League, show there has been little to choose between the displays of the two men so far this season.

Filan, who looked back to his commanding best at Carrow Road, has the edge over his opposite number when it comes to making saves and dealing with crosses. But Achterberg, a Dutchman from Utrecht, has the better figures on distribution.

Filan has been between the posts for all four of Rovers' games so far, while Achterberg has been in goal for all but one minute of Tranmere's six fixtures.

Goals conceded stand at five and nine respectively, with two clean sheets apiece. Filan's shot-stopping success rate is 71 per cent, beating Achterberg's 67 per cent.

Interestingly, both players have saved eight goal attempts from inside the box but, while Filan has stopped four from outside, the Tranmere man has kept out 10.

Apart from the disparity in games, that suggests opposition teams have to hit plenty of long-range strikes - maybe because the Merseysiders defend in depth.

The Ewood keeper has two successful punches to his credit (Achterberg four) and has caught 11 crosses (nine).

With only one dropped catch apiece, the Australian's catching success rate is an impressive 92 per cent, his rival's not far behind on 90 per cent.

Where the Tranmere man finally gets ahead is in distribution. Thirty-one per cent of his long kicks reach their intended target, compared to Filan's 28 per cent. And 95 per cent of Acheterberg's throws and short kicks are successfully completed, while Filan has some improvement to do in that area with a rate of only 84 per cent.

There will be some disappointed strikers around tomorrow if either man improves his record, especially on clean sheets!

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.