There must be things we're not aware of that Mowbray is, he's obviously playing it this way for a reason but on the face of it it seems like he's trying to buy himself some time from another selection headache. From a fan perspective, I've made similar points to the ones above, I really don't understand the point of giving first team football and then dropping him down again... It's literally the definition of 1 step forward and 2 steps back. He's not a kid, if he's good enough then play him or at least have him in the squad because we could really use someone of his height and physicality. He's been playing under 23 football and training with them at Sunderland when he was cast out, give him some responsibility and allow him to grow, it's not like time his on his side, he needs to be making the most of his career now IMV.

I guess so but the last one it didn't even sound like he was tested that much and obviously first team football is worlds apart... There's no other way to get him ready for the standard of first team football than to give him minutes off the bench IMV.

I recon that's an excuse to not give himself further selection headaches. Not sure how we expect to get him match fit without giving him some minutes here and there.

And how is he going to do that if there are no more League cup games? To get match fitness you need to be involved in matches. I can totally understand the not rushing him argument but to give him a start and taste for first team football and then leave him out completely would in my view be a little 1 step forwards and 2 steps back. 10 mins at the end of a game is hardly going to burn him out. From a footballing perspective there might be a situation where we might need his height and physicality. Totally trust managers judgement on this one but just seems as he's only on a one year deal and is fit enough to start against a prem side then we might aswell start making some use of him and get him involved.

Silly me. Palmer and Rodwell still ok though? Would seem stupid to have Rodwell start and then not have him involved in the squad, his height could be valuable if we need to see out a result.

Really? Brereton should be on the bench ahead of Butterworth, Rodwell and Palmer not even in the squad?

One definite contributing factor is our lack of height being exploited when teams get desperate and start playing long balls.

At least he has some height. We seem to go panic stations whenever teams throw it in our box. On the whole, we're a small team, we need some big bastards to come on for last 10 mins to see us through.

Just a bit. An improvement on what we have, looking forward if we could keep him, Rothwell and Reed in centre mid could run games.

Had to turn it off after we cleared it off the line at 3-2... I couldn't deal with it, to read what had happened wasnt even shocking. That last 15 aside, I think that's the best performance I've seen under Mowbray. If we have a chance at getting Reed signed in January then I wouldn't be messing around, I've seen enough already. Danny Graham masterclass today, his best performance for us by far, top class. Cant fault any of them really. I think we should get in for Bauer again in January because our lack of height was really exploited in that last 15 mins.

Raha needs to do us a favour with his kicking... You've had Jack all to do lad!

How was that not 4??? Gutted! Unreal miss.

What am I seeing????

Played some great stuff, some great short passing but noticeably picking our moment to only play it long when something is on. I can honestly say I've never seen a Rovers team work this hard, it makes me really proud to see. What worries me is of we can keep it up for another 45 mins. They will go direct with Crouch and I think we'll struggle with that, he always seems to score.

What a move!!! What a pass!!! Work rate is exceptional!

Under pressure here but I love the commitment from these boys, 4 or 5 of the sliding to block there and then chased em all the way back to their goal... Brilliant.

Great goal!

Look decent so far, Bell and Nyambe getting forward well.

You're playing 12 again...

What is their in record transfer fee? Can't imagine it being massive.

Brockhall is miles away from Ewood in a rather more affluent area near Clitheroe. Depending on traffic it would take you around 30 mins or more to get from Ewood to Brockhall. Youth teams and first team I think all train there still. I had trials when I was younger and it was impressive back then but hard to remember exactly how it looked.

They're struggling now but can't see Alex Neill taking them down, decent manager, he'll do enough to keep them up but could see him walking away if there's no investment.

If that's the case they need to be looking into his performance away at Blackpool... Stands out as one of the worst performances I've seen from any player at any level.

On Armstrong, although he got a fair amount of goals last year, we still have to remember it was out of position, the lad is an out and out centre forward but we aren't going to see the best of him unless we play to his strengths. Its also worth remembering that he's still only 21 so we need to be patient with him to adapt to his surroundings and a higher level of playing. I predict that we'll see Reed as a regular for us soon and that we'll be doing everything to make it permenant at the end of the season. He looks to be a step up from what we have currently, I think deep down Tony will know this and he will suit his long term plans more than Smallwood. Get Rothwell in, we need someone who can dictate play, we have the graft in centre mid but we need more quality. I feel for him really because every time I've watched him he's been MOM, I just hope this hasn't knocked his confidence. If Tony wants to play more possession based football as he recently discussed then we're going to need our better players on the pitch. That said, I can't believe Conway was picked, the lad should only be playing for us in early stage cup games, maybe a late sub appearance here and there when we have injuries. Starting away at Derby though? Nah, time has gone for that and I'm just glad that Mowbray changed it and has probably come to the same realisation as us. Solid point though, I'll take it.

Get Rothwell in, we need someone who can dictate play, we have the graft in centre mid but we need more quality. Solid point though, I'll take it.