I am always amazed when fans have access to our fitness stats - and can rightly question Mowbray's selections.

Or Dack and Graham protected from injury due to fatigue due to number of matches ? On his recent performances - if teams are willing to pay stupid money I would let Dack go. Be interesting to see if Rothwell is played as number 10 today or not - he has the pace that Dack lacks - but possibly not his eye for a goal.

Firstly Brereton has only shown glimpses of why we spent so much money on him - not convinced at the moment. But to put a different slant on it - based on the last 5 matches - who would spend £20m+ on Dack ? Based on Dacks first few matches for Rovers - who (honestly) thought TM had messed up buying him. Also add into the equation everyone more than happy we signed Armstrong - and then moaned st his recent performances. I think (hope) TM is building a team for the future - one day I hope we will see Davenport and Rothwell changing our playing style.

I think you are right on perm deal for Reed being fantasy. Based on their last match - the Southampton coach likes a high pressing game - Reed would be perfect. As with all Rovers fans - I hope I am wrong - and we sign him on a permanent deal - just can't see it.

I liked Grabbi - he just needed a goal to kick start his career at Rovers. Could all have been different if his goal against United had been allowed. Confidence is a big thing in football - just a shame his goal was disallowed yesterday

One interesting aspect of the match - as poor as we played (especially in defense) - if Brereton's goal had stood (as TM feels it should) - we could easily have gone on to draw the match. As I said previously - I didn't feel PNE were that good - and the time wasting from the 11th minute on was embarrassing for a home side.

Disagree we have been poor - we have beaten some good sides along the way - performances have been up and down - but there have been some good performances. Lacks pace - Armstrong played wide ? Dack has been poor for large parts of the season - but goals have masked poor performances (mainly caused by heavy marking - not helped by Referees like today who offer him no protection). Today's games was decided in the first 10 minutes. Not certain Preston are as good as Radio Lancs were raving about - they just exposed us on the break as we pushed forward. TM needs to be come up with a plan B when we are chasing matches - this is the third time we have been cut apart chasing a match. Huge disappointment Brereton's goal being incorrectly disallowed - could have helped his confidence no end. Though Preston deserved to win (4-1 flattered them) - their No 45 virtually assaulted Lenihan on numerous occasions. Rarely have I seen a home team time waste for much of the match. Referee was just another example of poor officiating in this league.

Its a shame - give Williams, Bells pace and occasionally dribbling ability - and we would have a good left back. Williams is a little slow at times - and struggles further forward - however he is IMO a far better overall defender. Personally I would rotate the two depending on the opposition.

I agree with much of this - it is amazing how the MB changes during a match as the score line changes. One poster even criticised Mowbray for not using the sub-goalkeeper. Nobody should underestimate the job that Mowbray has done. We had a good budget for Div 1 - but at the end of the day we looked to be in terminal decline and some even said we would drop though Division 1 into oblivion. Contrast that with the current togetherness in the squad and (largely) those fans that attend at Ewood and on the road. Unfortunately (IMO) this has created unrealistic expectations among some fans - at the end of the day I still look at the points gap to the bottom three rather than top of the table. Having said that - given the promise in the squad I wouldn't be surprised to see us in the top 6 at the end of the season if we get a bit of luck with injuries etc.

Though I can't say I have thought - "wow what a player" - I do think he has shown in flashes why Mowbray took such an expensive risk. For a big man he travels with the ball excellently - and though not lightening fast does seem to be able to run with the ball under good control at speed. Being so big - given more experience (and some training from Danny Graham) I could easily see that he will be able to hold the ball up well. Goal scoring - other than the header he missed - struggling to remember any clear cut chances he missed (I am sure somebody will correct me). As with all strikers he does need a goal to get him going - if he had scored a couple of goals by now (but only displayed the same level of overall performance) - people wouldn't be so harsh on him (such is life). I consider myself a glass half full person (most of the time) - but I think there are too many people quick to jump on every single mistake he has made in his short cameos - but ignore similar mistakes from other players. What I would agree - it was a lot of money to spend on a prospect given our position. Whether it could have been spent better elsewhere is always difficult to say - after the Leeds match and at Swansea half time - people would probably say not (possibly more depth at Centre Half) - at the end of the Swansea match some people wanted to replace half the team ? One question (for people in the know) - has he always looked so knackered after only 5 minutes ? He is either unfit - or going to be like Damien Duff who looked knackered after his first run.

Second half I don't remember feeling overly concerned - it wasn't like they were creating chance after chance. First half after we scored - they had some reasonable chances - but at least it gave Raya a chance to shine on Telly ? I know we are getting some stick for sitting back after we scored - but this happens time and time again for most teams. How many times have Rovers been under the cosh - the opposition scores and then suddenly we look a different team as they sit back. There were some interesting tactical changes during the match - interesting to see Palmer playing further forward with Dack seeming to drop more into centre midfield at times during the second half.

Just our luck that when he scored 5 - the guy from Bolton scored 5 on the same Saturday.

At the start of the season I had intended to put a bet on Rovers getting promoted and Burnley relegated. A long shot on Rovers - but I always felt Burnley would be at risk due to the extra commitments of Europe. However - now they have been knocked out I expect them to pick up enough points to avoid relegation.

Wouldn't be surprised to see Rothwell start in the next match instead of Armstrong - especially as we are away from home. IMO you can see what TM is trying to do - while showing some loyalty to the players that got promoted, and also retaining the same work ethic - he is acquiring midfield players that are more suited to possession football and slowly introducing them to the first team.

Was impressed with Reed - the ease with which he covered ground was in stark contrast to the more ponderous Smallwood.

Was funny how Graham was continually pushed in the back but got little from the referee - however Grealish goes down easily a gets a free kick - who would have thought it

In truth it doesn't - if our goal had been given they wouldn't have had the play to be denied a penalty.

Goals change matches - the unbelievable giving of a free kick that led to their equaliser - plus Armstrong missing a one on one with the keeper set the tone. But all in all - we just didn't put it together today - can't put my finger on it. May be on my own - but didn't think they were 4-1 better. Special mention for Smallwood - not certain how he keeps being picked - hopefully a reshuffle after the break.

In truth that shows how good a window we have had - TM is now in a position where he can mix things up and rest players and still put out a strong team (especially midfield and forward areas)

Totally agree = plus some of the new signings are a bit of an unknown quantity at the moment whereas Dack is guaranteed quality.

What is wrong with Brereton ? There must be a reason why a Premiership club hasn't taken a punt on him - £6m isn't that much for a Premiership club. Looking at the highlights (which can be deceiving) he looks like he has pace, strength and dribbling ability - combined with the pace of Armstrong our somewhat slow team will start to look a lot quicker.

Rodwell fits the profile of most of TMs signings - players that have had dips in form but have previously shown they are good players. Only issue with Rodwell is that his poor form has been over a number of seasons. It's a gamble - but as we can't buy the finished article any more - one that may be worth taking.

Any team in this division would be better with Dack - but it is poor defending that has let us down tonight which Dack couldn't have really helped with.

The sad thing is - there are some clubs in this division who will be able to offer silly money at Xmas to help guarantee promotion. Let's hope we are in the top 6 mix come Christmas to help ward off any potential suitors.

So am I - he isn't on the bench?