I’ve followed whoscored.com for a long time now (stats nerd) and I’ve used them to make points on the message board. They attach a big weighting to goals scored and assists I’ve noticed but I’d like to know how they assess the other contributions. For instance, in the Fulham defeat there were only 1.5 points between all the players’ scores……including van Hecke and the subs! I guess you could say ….”well, they were all garbage!” Oh yes! And their methods somehow have Gallagher rated as the best Rover and the 7th best player in the Championship! I notice that they have Poveda in their team of the week though.

Yes, I was definitely a Buckley skeptic up until fairly recently. He has come on a lot in recent weeks and there’s something extra satisfying about seeing ‘one of our own’ step up to the mark. After Wheelton’s comment above, I’ve thought about Davenport’s contribution a bit more. We need that extra bite in midfield. A couple of his “last ditch” interventions were pleasing …..we are unlikely to get that from, say, Rothwell or Johnson. I want to see more of him. i’d already written off Poveda!

Thanks Wheelton Blue. I don’t get a lot of feedback so I appreciate your comment. It cheered me up.

Yep. The atmosphere in the stadium sounded brilliant. We do so much better when we have a positive mindset……let’s hope there’s a lot more to come before the usual rude awakening!

He adds bite to the midfield but, as you see, he didn’t feature in many critical incidents. I would certainly keep him though……..check out Rothwell’s scores in some of the recent games!

Yes, we all needed that Tyrone. It was the most enjoyable watch of the season I think. I wonder how many changes he’ll make for the next game?

PLAYER WATCH v Sheffield United Each incident in the match was rated on the following scale: +5 GOAL +4 Excellent play +3 Very good play +2 Pleasing/good play +1 Decent play 0 Routine stuff -1 Sloppy play -2 Disappointing/poor play -3 Very poor play -4 Terrible play -5 Own goal The ratings for each player were then combined to produce a measure of the players overall contribution to the match. Ratings Key incidents per player = coloured stars Overall contribution = number Kaminski ******* *** 11 Nyambe **************** *** 14 Lenihan ********************** ******* 26 Wharton *********************** ******* 24 Edun *************** ********* 5 Davenport (77) *********** ****** 8 Travis ************** ** 19 Buckley ********************* ***** 30 Poveda (92) ********************** **** 34 Khadra (66) ************* ******** 15 Diaz *************** ********* 18 Dolan (66) ***** * 7 Rothwell (77) ** 3 Butterworth (92) 0 Highlights and Lowlights (A justification for the main ratings given above) 01 A long clearance from United flies down their right wing. Wharton ánd Sharp are in hot pursuit. Wharton is nearer the ball but Sharp is quicker and Wharton is under pressure. He tries to put the ball out but doesn’t make proper contact and Sharp is away. His cross from the byline is perfect and Brewster volleys powerfully into the roof of the net. There’s a big character test ahead! 04 The United fans are still in full voice. Then there’s an excellent long, crossfield ball from Travis to Khadra who controls beautifully, skips infield and beats his man who then has to hack him down just over 30m out. Yellow card. Buckley’s free-kick is headed clear. 06 Lenihan gives a crude foul away midway in our half. Edun, for some reason, decides to stay in midfield leaving Khadra to mark the whole of our left flank! When the United winger gets the ball he passes behind Khadra and into the box. Edun chases but inexplicably falls flat on his face! Fortunately Wharton is well-placed to cut out the cross. 07 Edun fires a nice ball from halfway down the inside left channel to Diaz, 40m out. He goes on one of his runs and the ball is bobbling all over the place, off his knees and ankles, but he somehow bamboozles 3 men until he goes down in the box. It looked like a clear penalty to me, tugged back by Egan - he’d only the keeper to beat! The ref thinks differently, Diaz can’t believe it, Mowbray is screaming at the ref and the crowd roars its fury! 09 Buckley puts a foot in and Poveda is off on a jinky run. He puts a nice ball through to Diaz on the edge of the box but Ben somehow misses the ball! The crowd are wide awake now. Good Rovers pressing. 13 Lovely long ball by Lenihan lands perfectly for Diaz on the edge of the box; he nets but was offside! 18 Good United move sees the right winger get a cross in but again Wharton is in position, in the box, to intercept for a throw. From the throw Edun and Khadra are too easily beaten by White but Travis runs across the box to challenge and it’s another throw. 21 Well placed free-kick by Khadra from midway in the United half but Lenihan can’t quite get there as the keeper hesitates. 27 Buckley dispossesses a United man in midfield and Travis plays a lovely ball to Khadra, 35m out, but it’s poor control by Khadra and the defender slides in to clear. From the throw, Wharton misjudges the ball and United steam forward. It’s dangerous but Nyambe sprints back and manages to get his foot in and Rovers clear up. 28 Lovely through ball from halfway by Poveda finds Diaz on the edge of the box. Ben tries to cut it back to Buckley but it’s blocked. Disappointing, Ben holds his head. 32 Another good free-kick by Khadra from midway in the Sheffield half, on the right (same place as the last one!) into the 6 yard box. The defender does really well to get there just before the ball reaches Wharton! Two quick corners keep the pressure on. 35 A beautiful long crossfield ball by Buckley from halfway falls perfectly for Edun near the corner flag. His cross is blocked but Davenport picks up the loose ball and gives it to Khadra 20m out. Fancy footwork keeps three defenders at bay and he lets fly from the left edge of the D. There’s a slight deflection and the ball hits the back of the net. Nice goal. 37 Wharton misjudges a ball into the box and Sharp pinches the ball. Lenihan’s robust challenge clears the danger. 40 Edun is stranded in midfield again as the ball reaches a totally unmarked Bogle at the edge of the box and where is Khadra? Khadra eventually gets back to deflect Bogle’s shot for a corner. This defensive partnership of Edun and Khadra is just not working though! 41 A good long run by Diaz but his final pass is short…..he picks it up again and feeds Nyambe high up on the wing. His cross finds Poveda in the box and he brings the ball down on his chest but a defender clears it off his toes. Davenport wins it back on the edge of the box but his rushed shot is well over the bar. 43 Poveda is well beaten by Stevens on the wing. His dangerous cross is met by Lenihan but only reaches the edge of the box. Fortunately, this time Brewster scuffs his shot wide. 48 More trickery from Poveda on the right wing before he slips a pass to Diaz in the box. Ben doesn’t control it fully but he follows the ball to the byline and his attempted cross is deflected across the face of goal. Khadra chases it down and some nice interplay sees Nyambe with a chance of a shot on goal but there’s a reason he never scores as the ball disappears into the heavens! 53 A Rovers throw in the United half. Buckley collects and glides between 2 men, he reaches the box and slides a glorious, square, low ball across the face of goal but there’s nobody there to tap in! Then there’s some fancy footwork from Khadra on the left wing which leaves the defender in his wake but his cross is too high. The camera focuses on Travis who is winding everyone up! Great stuff. Then there’s a dangerous length of the field counter move by Sheffield and White receives in the box but Davenport slides in to block his cross….corner. Good lad! 55 It’s loud now! Travis wins a free kick just inside United’s half and takes it quickly to Khadra on the wing. He slips it to Edun who puts a great cross into the goalmouth but Diaz can’t make contact………….close! 56 Fleck fires a lovely ball, from halfway, over our defence, catching out Wharton and it falls to Sharp but his shot is well-saved by Kaminski’s legs. Wharton chases Sharp towards the rebound and puts the ball out for a throw. 58 Good strength from Lenihan wins the ball for Rovers and breaks up a dangerous attack. Poveda picks up near our box, on the right, and starts a long run. He lays off to Travis just inside United’s half. Travis carries forward and Poveda keeps running……..he’s pointing to the right of the box, behind the last defender. Travis threads the ball exactly to that spot and Poveda collects near the byline He squares the ball perfectly for the fast arriving Diaz who nets from 1m. Fantastic goal and Ewood erupts! Terrible swallow dive celebration by Ben but I forgive him. 60 Fantastic, length of the field pass by Wharton finds Diaz who controls well and turns the defender inside out but he’s come too wide and his shot is well off-target. The atmosphere is electric. 61 A Sheffield attack breaks down and Khadra is on the ball in a flash and drives forward with real pace. He lays off to Diaz on the wing and keeps running. Diaz delivers it back to Khadra inside the box but he overruns it. He recovers but the defenders close him down and block the shot. A square ball to the unmarked Poveda would have been a better option! 66 Dolan on, Khadra off. 67 White’s neat turn does both Lenihan and Davenport but his pass into the box is too hard for Sharp and Kaminski collects. White crosses from the left and Davenport makes an important interception but he deflects the ball only inches over the bar. A couple of corners follow and Kaminski punches the second one clear. 68 It comes back and eventually Buckley wins the ball. Diaz picks it up and he’s off, Poveda and Edun are keeping pace with him. It’s 3v3. He slips it left to Poveda on the edge of the box and his first-time shot from a narrow angle is saved at the near post but the keeper can’t hold it. Poveda collects again and does a 1-2 shimmy round the prone goalie and taps the ball past the last defender into the net. Brilliant by Poveda. WE WANT SEVEN!! 71 A fantastic, long, crossfield ball by Buckley bends behind the last defender and lands at Diaz’s feet. Ben takes it into the box but stumbles, falls over and the ball is lost. 73 Poveda, midway in the Sheffield half plays a beautiful, defence splitting pass through to the charging (but well-offside) Diaz. White gets the better of Travis, Lenihan and Davenport so they foul him. 74 Edun is dispossessed in our own half, Travis is nutmegged and White lobs a perfect ball over our entire defence to the feet of Mousset. Kaminski makes a great save, it’s pandemonium as it falls to Mousset again. This time Lenihan blocks 3m out and Wharton gets a crucial foot in …but it falls to White 12m out and his shot crashes against the woodwork and goes out of play! The gods are with us! 76 Dolan does some fancy stuff near the corner flag and gets clattered for his cockiness. Buckley puts the free-kick well over…..disappointing. 77 Davenport off, Rothwell on. 80 I reckon everyone is now thinking “Is there enough time for them to score 2?......or3?” 81 Beautiful lobbed ball by Travis to Diaz on the left wing but he’s offside! 82 The ball comes into the Rovers box, Lenihan’s there to block but it’s not clear. Nyambe thinks he’s shepherded it out but no…...White keeps it in (dubiously!) and crosses. Again Lenihan’s there to put it behind for a corner. 83 Buckley picks up the ball midway in the Rovers half and carries it forward. He releases the inch perfect ball to the pleading Diaz midway in the visitors half. There’s no one in front of him and he runs to the edge of the box but his shot is too near the keeper and it’s saved. 85 White lobs another fantastic ball over our defence to Mousset but he can’t control it and it’s a goal-kick. Kaminski’s kick is weak and Edun can’t get it under control and Sheffield attack. Lenihan and Travis clear up. Eventually Diaz gets the ball midway in United’s half. He does that magical “I haven’t got it under control...but I have really” thing of his and squares it to Buckley. He passes to Poveda who beats 2 men in the D and rolls it forward a metre to Buckley who is free and clear but his shot hits the post. It rebounds to Diaz who completely mis-hits the ball in front of an open goal! He was offside anyway! 90 A lovely floated ball into the box gets the better of Lenihan, Edun and Wharton but the Sheffield player can’t control it and Kaminski collects. 92 A nice touch as Poveda is named Man of the Match….he is subbed for Butterworth…..but gets a standing ovation! 95 The whistle goes and that’s the perfect answer to Wednesday’s debacle! Well done everybody! Another nice scene as Poveda and Khadra come out on to the pitch to wallow in the celebrations.

Usually I enjoy it but I was looking forward to this match. It’s knocked my enthusiasm for the Sheffield game. I’ve watched all the games live so far but with your clocks going back the K.O. Is now 1 am here! I’ll see how I feel.

Not much interest shown Bigdogg but I did it anyway!

I managed the first half...........I'll maybe do the rest later if i can summon up the enthusiasm.

PLAYER WATCH v Fulham Each incident in the match was rated on the following scale: +5 GOAL +4 Excellent play +3 Very good play +2 Nice/good play +1 Decent play 0 Routine stuff -1 Sloppy play -2 Disappointing/poor play -3 Very poor play -4 Terrible play -5 Own goal The ratings for each player were then combined to produce a measure of the players overall contribution to the match. Ratings Key incidents per player = coloured stars Overall contribution = number Kaminski ****** ***** 7 Nyambe *************** ******** 9 Lenihan ************ **** 15 van Hecke (32) ** *** -3 Edun *********** ********** -2 Johnson ************ *** 9 Travis ************* **** 14 Buckley *** *** 3 Rothwell (61) ******** ******** -2 Dolan (61) ****** ***** 3 Diaz *** ******* -7 Carter (32) **** **** 1 JRC (61) **** *** 2 Butterworth (61) ** -5 Highlights and Lowlights (A justification for the main ratings given above) I wasn’t going to do this but decided it was my duty! It’s the most difficult one I’ve done because so many players were culpable for the goals that it was hard to allocate blame. But I tried my best! Let me know what you think! 03 Johnson passes straight to Mitrovic on halfway who notices that Kaminski is off his line and tries a long shot. Off-target fortunately. (Pathetic, half-hearted attempt by van Hecke to block by the way.) Rothwell picks up a loose ball and runs towards the box, he lays off to Edun near the byline but his cross is too close to the keeper. 05 Good, robust challenge by Nyambe wins the ball from Kebano but Rothwell presents the ball back to Fulham with a woeful short pass. They sweep it out to the wing and Reid drives it to the line where he goes past Rothwell with ease and Edun is scared to put a foot in inside the box. Reid puts the ball on a plate for Kebano, near the penalty spot, who gleefully smashes it into the net. 07 Unnecessary risky play around our own box as Fulham put on the press and inevitably Edun gives it away. After many Fulham passes Edun makes a good interception to win the ball back. 10 Decent long ball down the channel from Lenihan but Diaz is offside. 12 Blimey, they’re passing us to death at the moment! 16 Nyambe is done comprehensively by Kebano near the corner flag and the cross comes in. van Hecke hoofs away. But it comes back! Fulham are tearing us apart around the box until Rothwell gets a foot in and a foul on Buckley halts the torment! 17 Impressive attack down the Fulham left but Lenihan is in place at the near post to intercept the cross for a corner. 18 The corner comes in to the near post and Mitrovic swats Nyambe aside to smash his header into the net. What’s that all about? Why put Nyambe on the most dangerous header in the opposition team. Who made that decision? Mowbray before the game or was it the captain’s decision on the field? Dumb! 19 Travis to Nyambe on the wing and he plays a nice ball to Dolan just to the right of the box. Dolan wriggles into the box but his shot is weak and straight at the keeper. Disappointing finish. 23 Travis wins the ball half way in the Fulham half and passes to Buckley who slides a lovely pass through to Diaz inside the box, tight on the right, but his shot, from that angle and distance, is ambitious and well over. 29 van Hecke leaps and attempts to decapitate the Fulham man. Dearie me! Red card all day long. It’s a nightmare from here! Buckley off, Carter on! I’m not sure I would have taken off our most creative player in these circumstances but there you are! 34 We haven’t touched the ball since the re-start. Kebano beats Nyambe again and puts in a flat cross which Lenihan intercepts for a corner as Mitrovic hovered. 38 More neat play from Fulham and this time it’s Nyambe who blocks the cross at the expense of a corner. 41 Neat footwork as Edun beats his man and launches a long ball down the wing but Diaz is offside. That’s hard to forgive as we aren’t creating much and to waste it like that……………. 43 Deja vu. Just like the first goal but this time it’s Wilson who drives to the line and it’s Edun who is done all over before Wilson lays it on the penalty spot and Reed fires at goal. This time Kaminski makes an excellent save. Should be 0-3. 44 Lenihan is caught stranded upfield and Fulham stream forward. Mitrovic runs into the box and Kaminski saves his shot. This time Nyambe out-muscles Kebano and comes away with the loose ball. Half time. 46 Good long run out of defence by Edun, he passes to Dolan and heads for the Fulham D but the return pass is poor and the keeper collects. This is weird; the keeper boots the ball to halfway and Rothwell gets into a minor physical tussle with Wilson and the Fulham man comes away with the ball. Instead of chasing him down Rothwell stands there with his arms spread, complaining pathetically, while Wilson spots Kaminski off his line again and tries his luck. Kaminski scrambles back in vain but luckily the shot, from halfway, is a couple of metres wide. Fulham have obviously talked about Kaminski’s habit of pushing up, he needs to be more careful! 49 A long ball from Lenihan reaches Dolan with the help of Johnson and hares away towards the box. He tries to lay off a short pass to Diaz but again it’s not good enough. Diaz was offside anyway! 50 Fulham the first to every ball. Mitrovic receives the ball in the middle of our half and there’s no one anywhere near him! He puts a perfect through ball into the box for Reid to chase but Kaminski saves the shot. LUCKY! 52 Poor passes from Johnson and Rothwell stunt all momentum as Fulham continue to pass it around with confidence. They stroll through midfield with ease, Travis and Lenihan fail to stop them and Robinson fires wide from inside the box. A bad miss! 53 Carter and Lenihan are defending high up the pitch and Carter is drawn well into the Fulham half. Mitrovic leaves him stranded with a wonderful crossfield ball to Wilson on the opposite wing. Wilson goes past Edun far too easily and nutmegs Kaminski and it’s 0-3. Edun is holding his head in his hands. 55 Nice control by Travis and he finds Diaz just inside the box but he’s offside AGAIN! 57 Nyambe is dispossessed on halfway and a lovely ball through the middle of our defence creates chaos. Edun is drawn right across the field leaving Wilson completely unmarked on Fulham’s right. Mitrovic finds him in the box and he smashes the ball into the net. 59 Nice long ball from Lenihan finds Diaz on the wing and his header finds Edun in the box, he’s tackled near the byline but wins a corner. 61 Rothwell and Dolan off, Rankin-Costello and Butterworth on. 64 Edun wins the ball in midfield and runs forward, then finds Diaz on the wing with a lovely pass. Diaz crosses to Butterworth in the box but it’s intercepted. Apart from rare sorties like this, Fulham are in complete control, different class. 69 We win a free-kick deep in the Fulham half. We send up the big guns but Diaz and Butterworth decide to take a short one and it falls to pieces and the free-kick is wasted! Lenihan and Carter trudge back. But we still have the ball, Diaz receives it near the right corner and beats 2 men and runs into the box. His attempted cross is cleared. From the throw in there’s more neat footwork from Travis and JRC gets a decent cross in but Diaz’s header loops gently into the keeper’s hands. 73 Edun pulls back the winger by his neck. Yellow card. 77 Edun intercepts near our box but he then fouls a Fulham man….again around the neck! It’s a short free-kick and there’s some lovely inter-passing until Kebano gets it deep in the box. He turns so fast that Edun is left for dead and his deflected shot crashes into the net. 80 Fulham totally dominant. Kebano, with the ball, stationary on the wing teases Butterworth then darts past him to deliver a beautiful cross into the 6 yard box. Carter is done by Muniz who puts the ball in the net. 84 Fulham continue to give us a football lesson in all areas of the pitch. Kaminski has had to be agile a couple of times. 89 Reckless sliding challenge from JRC earns a yellow card. Neat football from Fulham again as they sweep the ball across the pitch. JRC is watching Robinson on the wing but allows himself to be drawn towards the ball and Robinson is away when the ball is switched wide. His cross is excellent but Lenihan and Carter have to do better as Muniz beats them to the ball and it’s 0-7. The humiliation is complete!

Strangely, I’m enjoying the games so far…..the QPR game was cack and the 2-2 draws were infuriating but the team is likeable. I applauded the exodus of hangers-on and misfits last term……….Their replacements may be a bit flawed (or young!) but, with the exception of Poveda and Clarkson, they have put in some good performances. Kaminski, Nyambe, Lenihan, Ayala and Pickering/Edun at the back are solid. Ayala has toughened us up no end…..what an influence! I like van Hecke…..what if he’d scored on that ‘full-length of the field’ charge v Reading??? And Carter. The midfield needs more ‘bite’ ……teams waltz through too easily too often but Buckley is growing in stature and Rothwell is finding an end product at last. We need the pre-injury Travis back. Johnson was decent last time out. Before the season started I really thought we’d struggle to score goals. Well, there wasn’t much optimism to be drawn from last year’s performances was there? BBD……..unbelievable…….it’s gotta be self-belief I guess but very, very impressive. Dolan can be quiet but on his day he’s a joy to watch. I’ve given Gallagher heaps on here but, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, he’s rated 6th best player in the Championship on whoscored.com!!! I dunno how they justify that but even I am now hoping he’ll stay fit. Khadra looks like he could make a contribution in attack too. And there’s the BIG weak spot……..if 2 or 3 of the players I mentioned get injured we’re in big trouble. The squad is wafer thin Still, we’ve a chance to go into the top 6 tonight so I’ve set the alarm!

Oh! I would have guessed 60’s. I remember fans walking around the cinder track, inside the concrete wall …….from memory it all seemed pretty relaxed. But memories can be unreliable!

When did Rovers stop fans changing ends at half time?

I admit I’m a Nyambe fan but I think Buckley can do his quality delivery thing from midfield anyway. And Ryan does have his own unique attacking contributions. Play them both and have the best of both worlds.

According to the Rovers site, Ayala and Pickering have calf injuries and aren’t training at the moment.

Oh! I haven’t heard anything. Happily, I think his influence has already had an impact on our younger defenders. He is an excellent role model and is forever organising those around him. A big miss.

Don’t shoot the messenger but whoscored.com has Gallagher rated as the 6th best player in the Championship!!!

Lenihan tried to put himself everywhere……..it was risky but paid off mostly. He’s a crucial player, especially while Ayala is out.

PLAYER WATCH v Derby County Each incident in the match was rated on the following scale: +5 GOAL +4 Excellent play +3 Very good play +2 Nice/good play +1 Decent play 0 Routine stuff -1 Sloppy play -2 Disappointing/poor play -3 Very poor play -4 Terrible play -5 Own goal The ratings for each player were then combined to produce a measure of the players overall contribution to the match. Ratings Key incidents per player = coloured stars Overall contribution = number Kaminski *** * 6 Buckley ********* ***** 11 Lenihan ************************** ******** 34 van Hecke **************** *** 23 Edun ********* ***** 10 Johnson ****************** ******* 15 Travis ******** **** 11 Rothwell ************ **** 15 Dolan (74) ******* *** 4 Diaz ************ ***** 19 Gallagher (85) *************** ******* 10 Khadra (74) ** * -1 Poveda (85) * -1 Highlights and Lowlights (A justification for the main ratings given above) 01 Edun receives high up, on the wing, and puts in a great, first-time cross. Gallagher rises at the far post but his downward header goes wide. That’s a bad miss, it should, at least, have been on target. 03 Nice ball down the left wing from Johnson to Gallagher. Sam carries into the box but his shot is weak and wide. 05 Lenihan has to cover the right full-back position as Derby attack. Dolan is drawn in too and is bamboozled near our own corner flag allowing the winger to put in a dangerous cross. Lenihan is still out of position. Thankfully, Edun gets there first but it’s up in the air. Van Hecke hoofs clear. 07 Some nice approach play from our own box, involving half a dozen players. Finally it’s Dolan to Buckley on the wing, 20m out. His cross behind the defence across the face of goal is sublime. Diaz leaps in at the far post to meet it (with his shin I think) but the goalie saves. Diaz follows up and just manages to push it over the line. Derby try to play on but the ref isn’t fooled! 11 Hmm, Lenihan is being drawn forward to challenge more often than usual. No big problem yet but, without Ayala, it’s risky leaving a hole at the back. 13 Gallagher wins a corner on the left. Rothwell delivers to the far post and, under heavy challenge, van Hecke gets in a good header which grazes the right post. 14 Buckley is nutmegged by the winger but the attempted cross is cut out well by Lenihan. 19 Buckley wins the ball and drives over the halfway line drawing defenders towards him. He passes to Gallagher who lays it off nicely to Dolan. Dolan threads the ball through the defence towards the D, Diaz chases and collects and moves into the right side of the box. It’s quite a tight angle but Diaz slips the ball expertly under the keeper and into the net. Great finish! 22 Travis picks up in the middle of the Derby half and plays a neat 1-2 with Gallagher. Travis slips the ball square to Diaz just inside the box but his shot is scuffed and the goalie collects easily. Shame! that was hat-trick time Ben! 24 Good pressing from Rovers. 25 Lenihan leaping out of the line again, this time it’s a foul. Rothwell just seems to be running around at the moment - he’s not contributing much. No tackles, no passes. 27 Shinnie scythes down Gallagher with a crude challenge…..he’s lucky it was just a yellow. The Rovers players are incensed. At least Rothwell’s set-pieces are decent; the free-kick is met by Lenihan who heads back into the box but it’s cleared well by the defence. Corner. 31 Derby attack down their right and Johnson can’t stop the cross coming in from the edge of the box; Sibley brings it down but Lenihan intercepts, in the nick of time, and boots clear. A high ball comes back towards our box and Rothwell allows it to bounce, Lenihan is out-jumped and Travis tries to run clear but is dispossessed. Chaos! Eventually Buckley puts it out for a throw. 36 The commentators mention that Lenihan comes forward again, on the right, to challenge for a header…... further forward than we’re used to. It could be a conscious thing to protect Buckley? 37 Neat footwork from Rothwell midway in Derby’s half and it’s back to Johnson who slides a lovely pass down the wing to Diaz. He approaches the box and lays a beautiful pass behind the last 2 defenders to Gallagher on the far post. Sam fluffs his lines and puts it behind. Bad miss! 38 Bird picks up the ball in his own half and goes past Edun and Rothwell effortlessly. He slips it to Morrison in the box, van Hecke can't get there but his shot is too close to Kaminski and it’s well saved. 45 A loose pass from the Derby goalie is picked up by Diaz who squares the ball to Gallagher on the left edge of the box, he squares to Johnson inside the box but his side-footed shot is saved by the keeper’s legs. It falls to Dolan who takes a touch but then nudges it past the right post. We should be 4 or 5 up! 54 Lenihan brings down a Derby man just to the right of our D. The powerful free-kick goes through the wall and a diving Kaminski palms it round the post. 58 Lawrence beats Lenihan on the edge of the box and the Rover has to foul his man. Yellow card. Similar position to the last free-kick but the shot is well over the bar. 62 All a bit sloppy this half. We’re sitting back more too. 73 Not much happening. 74 Derby having all the possession. Lawrence shoots from just outside the box but it’s wide. Khadra on, Dolan off. 76 A long bit of Derby possession but no real danger. 77 Long Derby throw and Davies beats Lenihan on the near post and manages to flick the ball over his head. Edun brilliantly gets ahead of the attacker on the edge of the 6 yard box to head clear. It comes back though and Johnson heads clear. 79 Derby the first to every loose ball at the moment. 85 Buckley brings down the Derby man and stops a dangerous run but it’s a yellow card. Gallagher off, Poveda on. The free-kick leads to a lot of Derby pressure. Khadra is left for dead on the Derby right wing, he rugby tackles the attacker and it’s a free-kick just outside the box. Yellow card. The free-kick comes in, bounces off a head back to the edge of the 6 yard box and Davies hooks it into the net. That same old feeling! 91 More panicky, chaotic play from Rovers. Eventually Travis takes out a Derby man midway in our half. Yellow card. The free-kick comes in, Diaz loses the aerial challenge on the edge of the box and the ball reaches the penalty spot where Morrison brings it down and Richard’s shot hits the post. Lenihan helps to bundle the ball out of play. Pure panic! van Hecke heads away the resulting corner. Another cross comes in and this time Lenihan heads away. 93 A long hoof downfield from Derby and Edun is beaten in the air and the ball flies into the box. Van Hecke can’t prevent Richards charging on to the ball but his shot flies past the right post. Rovers living very dangerously as usual…..Richards pounding the ground in frustration! Outrageous time-wasting from Kaminski! 96 The whistle goes and Diaz punches the air! Phew!

Always good to hear from you. Yes, there were a few good performances second half. Gallagher was a revelation; I just can’t reconcile that performance with some of his recent diabolical efforts. Many popular posters were calling them some of the worst they’d ever seen from a Rovers’ centre forward. How does that happen? Similarly Dolan’s last couple of games were ordinary but on Saturday he was good to watch.

PLAYER WATCH v Reading Each incident in the match was rated on the following scale: +5 GOAL +4 Excellent play +3 Very good play +2 Nice/good play +1 Decent play 0 Routine stuff -1 Sloppy play -2 Disappointing/poor play -3 Very poor play -4 Terrible play -5 Own goal The ratings for each player were then combined to produce a measure of the players overall contribution to the match. Ratings Key incidents per player = coloured stars Overall contribution = number Kaminski *** ** 2 Nyambe (59) ************* ***** 18 Lenihan ******************* ***** 26 Ayala (37) **** * 3 Edun ********** **** 12 Travis ***************** *** 24 Rothwell (87) *********** ******* 13 Buckley ***************** ***** 23 Dolan ************** *** 29 Diaz ********* *** 8 Gallagher ******************* ***** 31 van Hecke (37) **************** ***** 22 Poveda (59) *** ****** -4 Johnson (87) ** * 1 Highlights and Lowlights (A justification for the main incidents above.) 05 Edun physically ushers out the Reading attacker and wins a throw. Blimey, opposition throw and we can’t get a touch as Reading attackers pass it about with impunity on the edge of our box! A shot goes narrowly over the bar! 06 Hmm! I think that’s the 3rd Gallagher flick on header from long balls already! Now Dolan is off down the wing, he avoids the defender and makes it to the byline, gets a cross in but it’s headed away by the defender on the near post. 07 Lovely long ball from Lenihan down the wing to Nyambe who controls brilliantly on his chest. He manages to get a cross in but it’s straight at the goalie. 16 Rahman turns Nyambe inside out in the box before firing off a shot but it’s over the bar. 17 Travis loses the ball in midfield and and Laurent hares down the wing. Nyambe makes up a lot of ground to challenge in the box and Laurent goes down. Cheat! 19 Rothwell is off on one of his runs but his attempted cross into the box fails to beat the first man. 21 Nice ball from Buckley to Gallagher in the box; Sam shields the ball well and lays off to Rothwell but his ball into the box is poor and the keeper collects. 22 Nyambe tries to clear a long ball but it falls at Laurent's feet and he tries a shot from 30m. Fortunately it’s well off-target. 23 Reading carry the ball all the way downfield, Nyambe can’t stop the cross coming in and Edun is beaten in the air but Yiadom’s header, from the penalty spot, is straight at the, well-positioned, Kaminski. 24 Buckley sends a lovely ball down the inside-left channel to Gallagher who chases it to the byline but his cross is delivered straight into the keeper’s hands. Rothwell steals the ball and puts in a short ball to Diaz on the edge of the box….but it’s a poor pass and Reading collect. 28 Turgid stuff. Reading dominating possession and when we do get the ball we are passing it from one defender to another in our own half! 30 At least it’s good to see Travis getting back to his normal self. Another good interception. 31 Rothwell picks up the ball in our half and he’s off again! From the centre-spot he releases a beautiful, defence splitting ball for Gallagher to run on to 35m out. He carries it into the box, cuts inside a defender and bends the ball round the diving keeper but it hits the joint of crossbar and right-hand post. So close to a fantastic finish by Sam. 33 Nyambe collects high up the pitch on the wing. He teases the full-back then drops his shoulder and sprints to the byline, gets a cross in but it’s headed away at the near post. 37 Needless foul by Buckley earns him a yellow card and it’s a dangerous position. Oh! Ayala walks off injured! The free-kick crashes into the wall and the danger passes. 39 Nice pass by Nyambe to Dolan straight down the wing. Dolan beats his man with ease and passes to Buckley. He crosses into the box where Gallagher challenges but the goalie was always favourite. 42 Nice ball from Nyambe to Gallagher 25m out, Sam turns his defender expertly and unleashes a shot from the right edge of the box but it’s 2m wide at least. Disappointing ending. 47 Reading pass their way through the middle of our defence too easily but it’s Lenihan to clear up again. A very poor half of football to be honest! 49 Rovers corner. Rothwell slides a flat ball across the ground to Gallagher unmarked to the right of the penalty spot but he puts it well over the bar. Training ground move but Sam should have been on target. 52 Lots of Rovers inter-passing in our attacking third, then Buckley neatly side-steps round his marker on the wing and passes inside to Nyambe who does a clever 1-2 with Dolan and Nyambe collects deep in the box at the byline. His cross is deflected luckily by a defender’s chest into the keeper’s arms. Good move. 54 Fantastic long ball by van Hecke finds Gallagher just onside in the inside left channel. He heads for goal but his flicked shot is at a narrow angle and straight at the keeper. 56 Buckley’s playing well at the moment, getting his foot in and showing good control in tight situations. 57 The second poor pass, in quick succession, from Rothwell as his ball to Dolan goes straight into touch. Now Reading attack and our defenders are back-pedalling. Diaz is chasing and manages to get his body into the box to block out the dangerous final pass. Foul given to Rovers. 59 Nyambe off injured. Poveda on. Buckley drops to right back! 60 van Hecke wins the ball on halfway and Poveda slips it to Rothwell midway in the Reading half and he’s off towards the box. Dann almost gets a tackle in but Joe just keeps control and his shot nutmegs another defender, hits the post and runs across the face of goal. Gallagher has a tap-in. 62 Reading almost level immediately. They cut through the centre of our half again. Poveda, Lenihan, Buckley and van Hecke all struggling to get near the ball. Puscas, sliding in, somehow manages to miss the final touch. What a let off! 64 Rovers work it nicely upfield and Dolan picks up midway in Reading’s half on the left wing. He heads straight for goal, cuts inside a defender and fires a fantastic shot from just outside the box. It bends round the keeper and into the right corner of the net. Super goal. 66 Dolan robs the fullback and steams into the box. He slips the ball towards the penalty spot but it’s between Poveda and Rothwell and the chance is gone. Van Hecke can’t keep pace with Puscas and we’re in trouble but Lenihan again comes across to intercept. He wins the foul. 68 Reading free-kick. Lenihan seems to miss his header, the ball bounces and it’s chaos but Travis hooks away for a corner. We’re missing that commanding Ayala presence as no one attacks the high ball from the corner, it’s bouncing around again and, this time Lenihan clears. 69 Danger again as Puscas crosses from the wing but Buckley gets up well to clear. 71 van Hecke is struggling and brings down the Reading man just to the left of the box. Yellow card. The free-kick comes in low and flat to the edge of the box and Buckley does well to rush out and block the shot. Eventually Gallagher wins the ball and clears. 76 We're inviting Reading to attack! There’s no out-ball. I’ve seen this before! 78 Poveda is dispossessed in our own half. He has to foul the Reading man. Poor play and a yellow card. 80 Dolan, on the wing, brings the ball out of defence and beats Drinkwater. He’s by the corner flag and this time nutmegs Drinkwater and slides the ball to Poveda in the box. Poveda tries to beat 3 defenders with the inevitable conclusion. Reading hoof clear. 84 Travis makes an important challenge in the box and van Hecke picks up the loose ball and lofts a nice long ball for Poveda to chase. Van Hecke keeps running. Poveda crosses to Diaz who heads the ball back across goal to the charging van Hecke. It bounces on the 6 yard line but van Hecke can’t direct it on goal and it’s just wide. What a fantastic goal that would have been! 86 Rothwell off, Johnson on. 88 Gallagher and Johnson combine to win the ball on halfway. Dolan picks up and gallops down the wing. He cuts inside and shoots trying to repeat his earlier success but this time the keeper brings out an excellent save. Diaz wanted the pass! Buckley takes a short corner to Travis who immediately loses the ball! Reading stream forward but Johnson takes one for the team. Yellow card.

Thanks BlueBro; dunno if I’ve got the enthusiasm to do the QPR match!

Well spotted! Kane didn’t get a yellow for the first foul…..even though he deserved one. I’ll edit it. Thanks.

It's a great result for overseas fans in inconvenient time zones. Do you think our protestations had any effect, was it the Fans Forums intervention or did it just happen?