Rovers charged into the Third Round of the 2022-23 Carabao Cup following a 2-1 comeback victory win over Bradford City in the Second Round, courtesy of goals from stand-in skipper Bradley Dack and young prodigy, Dilan Markanday. Rovers were tested by Mark Hughes’ buoyant Bantams, who themselves had overcome another Championship opponent in Round One, Hull City by a 2-1 scoreline.
The draw for the Third Round occurred live on Sky Sports as the 7 remaining Premier League sides who are involved in European competitions this season, entered the draw, alongside all of the Second Round victors from all 4 top divisions of the English footballing pyramid.
With the draw recombining the North and South of the country, Rovers – ball #4 in the draw – were offered an away tie against West Ham United, who reached this stage of the competition courtesy of their Premier League status and European bye that saw them enter the competition at this stage. The clash is set to take place at the London Olympic Stadium, on the week commencing 7th November, with a confirmed date to be set in the near future, along with ticket information.
Rovers and West Ham United have only met in this competition once before – Halloween 2000 – as Harry Redknapp’s side ran out comfortable 2-0 winners over Graeme Souness’ Second Division Blues, courtesy of goals from Davor Šuker and Paolo Di Canio. In recent years, Rovers have hosted the Hammers at Ewood Park, this time in the 2015-16 FA Cup, but Slaven Bilić’s side romped Paul Lambert’s outfit, 5-1 with Dimitri Payet’s first-half free-kick being the pick of the five goals that cancelled out Ben Marshall’s opener in a game which saw both sides finish with ten-men, after Chris Taylor and Cheikhou Kouyaté were both respectively dismissed, for separate challenges in the second-half.
