IT will be a ‘buoyant’ Rotherham United who arrive at Ewood Park today – as Blackburn Rovers boss Owen Coyle gets set to put friendship to one side with his opposite number.

Rotherham have a winless and woeful record away from home in the Championship so far this season after losing 3-0 at Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion and 4-0 at Barnsley.

But their manager Alan Stubbs insists they head to East Lancashire in high spirits after their battling 2-2 draw at home to Nottingham Forest extended their unbeaten home start in the league to four matches.

The point, which came courtesy of a late Jon Taylor leveller after Darnell Fisher was sent off, moved the Millers up 20th, four points above rock-bottom Rovers, who remain the only club in the Championship yet to taste victory.

And Stubbs, who hailed it his side’s best performance of the campaign, said: “It’s another game where we can get three points and if we put a performance in like we did (on Wednesday) then we give ourselves a really good opportunity to pick up points.

“As a manager I have to look at the bigger picture and we go into Saturday buoyed by the performance, and not what we should have taken out of the game.

“We’ve got to try and improve because we haven’t done ourselves any favours with our away performances so far.”

Stubbs was considered for the Rovers job after Paul Lambert’s departure at the end of last season.

But the former Bolton Wanderers, Celtic and Everton defender, who had just led Hibs to an historic Scottish Cup success, was not granted an interview.

Instead the position went to Coyle who played alongside Stubbs for two years at Bolton.

Coyle said: “He’s a wonderful lad, Alan Stubbs.

“He came close to joining Blackburn Rovers in a double deal when we played together at Bolton with Jason McAteer. At the last minute Liverpool came in and stole Jason away. That curtained the double deal and Alan subsequently went to Glasgow Celtic.

“He’s a lovely man and after the game we’ll have a sit and a chat but for the duration of the game we’ll be doing everything within our power to get the three points for Blackburn Rovers.

“He always had tremendous qualities as a player and as a leader. He used to mump and moan about everything but he had a wonderful playing career and he’s now showing that in management.

“He earned his spurs at Everton, in a coaching capacity, then moved to Hibernian and did well. Now he’s in the Championship.

“He’s an outstanding man, a real top lad, who I’ve got an awful lot of time for. But, as I said, we’ll be looking to beat his side on Saturday and get up and running.”