ONE manager on the brink, two Lancashire rivals in the relegation zone, and dozens of cameras ready to watch it all unfold: Derby day rarely disappoints in the drama stakes.

The scene is set for a tense televised game under the lights at Ewood Park on Friday night as Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers look for their first win of the season ahead of the international break.

Though weekend reports claiming Gary Bowyer had been sacked have now proved erroneous, there is a sense that pressure is building down the A666.

The 44-year-old will need no reminding that defeat to Wanderers tends to shorten the shelf life of a Rovers manager.

Sam Allardyce and Henning Berg both bit the bullet within days of derby disappointment, while poor old Steve Kean never recovered from the frantic protests prompted by defeat at Ewood in December 2011, limping on Monty Python Black Knight style for another nine months before finally succumbing to fan power and falling on his sword.

Bowyer’s situation is by no means as intense, although a poor finish to last season and a winless start to the current campaign has done him no favours at all.

Rovers may be shackled by a transfer embargo but they have still out-spent Wanderers in the last few months.

Former Whites loanee Danny Guthrie has been brought in from Reading, Tom Lawrence from Leicester City and the rapid Modou Barrow – who spent time on trial under Dougie Freedman – has also been loaned, to name but a few.

Rudy Gestede’s departure to Aston Villa and Jordan Rhodes’ absence through injury has blunted an attack that has consistently been among the Championship’s most dangerous in recent seasons, but Bowyer will know lingering around the bottom three is unlikely to be tolerated by the club’s Indian ownership, particularly after Wigan Athletic’s spectacular fall from grace last term.

Wanderers have an identical record in the league so far but go into Friday’s game on an up-note after Stephen Dobbie’s late equaliser against Nottingham Forest.

Neil Lennon hopes the result will ease a little of the pressure that has built during a record barren run in front of goal.

“We don’t need to worry about that now,” he told The Bolton News. “Psychologically, it is a huge lift. We’ve had no problem creating chances but perhaps the fact we weren’t putting them away was playing on our minds a little. Now we can get past that, going forward.

“I don’t think we look like a side that is second bottom in the table but it puts us in a positive frame of mind ahead of Blackburn.”

The 167th derby sees Wanderers looking for their first win at Ewood since November 2012, when goals from Chung-Yong Lee and Kevin Davies gave Dougie Freedman an early boost in his successful first season in charge.

Since then, Rhodes has been the difference maker for Friday's hosts, with goals in each of the last two victories for Rovers on home turf.

A 4-1 win in August 2013 prompted some particularly vitriolic criticism from Freedman – and proved to be the last we saw of Tyrone Mears in a Wanderers shirt.

Lennon was in charge by the time they returned in March, when the Scotland international snatched the points with a goal in stoppage time.

Rhodes has figured just twice this season, amidst some strong speculation linking him with Middlesbrough, and missed two games in a row for the first time since signing for Blackburn.

Speaking after the defeat at Brighton, Bowyer admitted he hoped to have the 25-year-old fit again in time for Friday’s game.

“Jordan didn’t travel, he’s back at home getting treatment, but hopefully he’ll be ready for the Bolton game,” he said.

“And with the chances we’re creating, and with him in the team, we know he will convert them.

“I’m pleased with the number of chances we’re creating, especially when you consider that we’ve not really had that much time on the training pitch, what with it being Saturday-Tuesday, Saturday-Tuesday.

“So we’re looking forward to a big week leading up to the Bolton game when we can get some really good work done.”