Blackburn Rovers continued their unbeaten start to the Championship season as Todd Cantwell inspired them to a 2-0 win over ten-man Queens Park Rangers.

Rovers were given the familiar task of making the most of a man's advantage after Jonathan Varane was sent off just before half-time. Unlike at Deepdale, they made it count.

A tepid first half was given a flash point as the QPR midfielder overran the ball and lunged into Danny Batth, wiping the defender out. It was a late tackle and deserved the red card that followed.

That gave Rovers the initiative and Cantwell's half-time introduction added the spark they needed. It was Lewis Travis who opened the scoring, firing in from the edge of the box on his 200th career start.

All of the play was flowing through Cantwell and his cross picked out Batth to add the second, steering in at the back post. Rovers had lacked ingenuity in their last 135 minutes of football and within 15 minutes, Cantwell had provided it.

The win makes it seven games unbeaten and four consecutive home league wins to start the season. The last time they managed either of those feats was in 1994/95, a season which didn't end too badly.

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John Eustace continued with seven of the 11 that have started every Championship game for Rovers. Andi Weimann and Harry Pickering were the only tweaks, with the latter replacing the suspended Owen Beck whilst Lewis Baker dropped to the bench.

It was a tepid affair with chances at a premium, as was the case six days previous at Deepdale. QPR created the first meaningful opening, with Paul Smyth turning Koki Saito's cross wide at the back post.

Rovers responded and forced Paul Nardi into action. Tyrhys Dolan's clever run created space and his cutback found Weimann, but his left-footed strike was pushed away by the Rs goalkeeper.

There wasn't much to report for the remaining 30 minutes. Both sides lack much ingenuity with the balance of Rovers' front four again under question. Despite Yuki Ohashi leading the line, Rovers persisted to work the ball into wide positions only for their crosses to be headed out.

The Japanese forward did get a sniff at goal though but was untypically wasteful. Dolan's lovely weighted pass gave him a clear sight of goal but he opted to check inside rather than shoot and the chance was snuffed out.

As the game trickled towards half-time, Rovers were presented with the opportunity to face ten men for the second week running. Varane overran the ball and lunged into a tackle with Batth. He was high and late with the referee showing him a straight red card.

The question at half-time was simple. What have you learned from last week? After another tepid first-half showing, Eustace's side had to show more invention against ten men bunkering in.

Cantwell was introduced at the interval and he was immediately in the thick of the action. His shot from range was pushed out by Nardi before Dolan's rebound was saved and then the ball ricocheted around the goal-line but somehow stayed out.

Unlike Preston, QPR didn't have the same resolve and within seven minutes of the restart, the scoring was opened. Captain Travis let fly from 20 yards and his shot took a small deflection which helped it past the goalkeeper.

The Rovers substitute was then the direct architect as they doubled the lead. His delicious cross was met at the back post by Batth for his first Rovers goal. But all the acclaim went to Cantwell, who took his applause in front of the Blackburn End. I think we've got a fans' favourite already.

Rovers saw out the remaining 25 minutes with little fuss or concern. They now have four Ewood Park wins in a row to start the campaign, having only managed six in the entirety of last term.