Given Douglas played for Leeds vs Hull and Trybull has been training with Norwich I'm not sure what either will be missing. If Douglas has had a pre season and played under Bielsa then he's ready to play here. Same for Elliott and Trybull. They aren't coming from the other side of the world with different stages of fitness. They should be ready.

I'll be more confident of a result here than at Coventry the following match. Having said that Watford are a tough nut to crack and for all our gusto about our quality attacking players and abilities ive not seen much to show for it since Derby. I expect a low scoring affair. We won't win it but could come away with a point if we keep it tight. I just hope we don't turn up trying to outscore them and exposing ourselves.

I was baffled when the commentator said that we had been much improved in the second half. I must have watched a different game because in terms of chances I felt our best chances (not many) came in the first half and in the second whilst we had loads of meaningless possession we did nothing to test their goalkeeper. Mowbray simply doesn't have it in his locker to break teams down when they are well organised. Very frustrating and whilst I appreciate that we've got a lot of players missing the game still happens and the points still slip by. If you want promotion or to 'challenge for the top six' you need better than we've seen the last two games. I think there is something seriously wrong medically looking at who we have missing. Usually an international fortnight would be useful in getting people back to fitness and yet bizarrely the opposite seems to have happened with us and we end up with more missing than before despite only a couple having international duty. 5 games into the season and we've already had these players missing: Williams, Lenihan, Nyambe, Bennett, Evans, Travis, Rankin Costello, Rothwell, Holtby, Dack, Gallagher plus not calling upon Elliott, Trysull or Douglas when eligible. That is outrageous.

None of which matters. What matters is what happens between the whistles on matchday. Don't get points or prizes for injuries or deadline day business.

We don't just shrug shoulders and 'move onto the next one'. We analyse the hell out of today and Cardiff and work out how to address failings that have seen one point and no goals in 180 home minutes. Mowbray outdone again today. Not a surprise because Hughton is a top operator at this level who knows how to dig wins out of difficult situations. We don't do that which is why we will never be serious promotion contenders. What I'd give for a couple of those Forest performances and wins. Starting midweek at Watford. We need more in the locker than what we've served up the last two games. What was being hailed as a brilliant start is actually now a mediocre start with a decent goal difference. 7 points from 15 is OK. Nothing more than that.

A pleasing window and better than most of us would have expected, myself included. We have good options now. Mowbray will have to whip them into shape and get them working well. It does seem Venkys have allowed Mowbray a decent wage budget to get good players in the building so credit goes out for that. Without wanting to put a dampner on a good day's business I want us to urgently address the contact situations. We should be all set until May but after that we've a raft of players out of contract or at the end of loans. That must be addressed over the coming months or we will be in trouble next summer.

Alan Myers now saying that us and Millwall are after Bolasie. Don't know if that is just off what was claimed this morning or if there's more to it. He seems to know more than most though.

I don't know anything about Elliott or his abilities. A little concerned that we are 'hoping to persuade him' to make the switch. He's 17 and hardly played football at a competitive level. I wouldn't be wasting much time persuading him. If he wants to come and try to get in our team then fine. On another note I find it interesting that those clubs doing the most or significant business today appear to be those backed by the wealthiest of owners. Perhaps those most immune to the lockdown or those most able to have a gamble on promotion. Ourselves, Forest, Wednesday, Cardiff all looking like doing decent business but very quiet elsewhere at the less well funded clubs. Come 5pm I might just be heading over to the PNE forums for some light reading.

When Cardiff are going out committing to a £4 million+ loan deal today I have to say I agree with the Premier League sides.

I'm pleased with the blend of youth and experience we have through the ranks. Ayala, Lenihan, Bennett, Johnson, Douglas, Trybull, Holtby Evans - lots and lots of games and promotions in there Rankin-Costello, Dolan, Nyambe, Trav, Gallagher, Brereton, Armstrong, Buckley, Chapman - quality at the younger more inexperienced end of the spectrum. Blended together properly it should be a good recipe. I just hope we get straight with some of these injuries - obviously Trav out to January and Dack a balancing act on his rehab but hopefully other ones like Williams, Costello, Gallagher, Evans will start to be available on a regular basis from now on and we don't spend the next few months fighting fires with absentees.

Pete O'Rourke reckons us and Millwall trying to challenge Middlesbrough for Yannick Bolasie but he prefers Middlesbrough

We need to be targeting top 2 as a club and squad. Absolutely pointless aiming to challenge for the top 6. Even if successful it guarantees nothing. If the manager doesn't have his eyes on top 2 and is happy with top half competing with half the division for 4 play off positions then that isnt enough. IF we get these players in it seems to have been a good window. Mowbray can have no complaints at all and it reiterates to me that he actually has one of or even the best job in the Championship with the freedom and backing he gets here.

I wouldn't trust that Morris as far as I could throw him after past antics with McClaren, Clement and Pearson. Probably means Cocu will be gone if they lose their next game.

Yes. Think us, Forest and Newcastle are the 3 most prominent clubs not to have played there. Stanley are another.

The old rule of thumb is to have 2 players for every slot. So Kaminski and Pears for the 1st team, Sergiakis as 3rd choice/u23s along with Eastham, presumably one of the others out on loan somewhere and the u18 lads sort themselves out. Well stocked but not an issue so long as someone goes out on loan. Seems to me the Pears one has been lined up all summer long through Mowbray's Boro connections. The strange one was the Greek lad.

That was the best chance we had and possibly will have for a generation to reach an FA Cup Wembley Semi Final. It was a complete freak smash and grab job over Arsenal - I think the first time Wenger had exited the Cup to a lower division side in 17 years at Arsenal. Dark days only made worse by it being Wigan in the semis who went on to win it.

Before getting carried away we need to understand what sort of additions these mysterious '2 or 3' players are going to be. Obviously if we sign 3 and in doing so strengthen 3 or 4 areas of the pitch with quality then we will all be delighted and optimistic for the rest of the season. I think this is what we need to be doing to have any chance of sustaining our current early position. If we sign 2 or 3 and they comprise another backup goalkeeper and some unheard of kid in midfield who we are getting to try and develop then I'm not sure how much further along we will be. Pears, Douglas and a lad in midfield would be a bit meh, because I think only one of them would immediately improve the side. Douglas and two other established players along with Downing would be very nice indeed, because we could improve 2-3 positions plus add valuable experience and versatility in Downing.

My guess is the Pears one will be done easily (very odd to be bringing in yet another keeper) and hopefully Douglas on loan. I'd be pleasantly surprised if we got anyone else especially anyone with pedigree. Suppose we might get a PL young loan for midfield but Mowbray's comments don't excite me. No money, loans, looking for competition to fill out the squad due to injuries.

Why are Evans and Kaminski an issue? Hundreds of players on international duty this week will need covid testing upon their return. They will do the test then appear for their clubs this weekend. Not sure why our players should be any different unless they test positive but not sure why it is an issue Mowbray needs to bring up. I'm very concerned by our injury record. They are dropping like flies. Something wrong with our fitness or training.

Mowbray hoping for 2 or 3 in hopefully today. I hope he is right but I'll believe that when I see it. When did we last get 2 or 3 done in a day?

As I understand it the financial picture at Bury FC was completely different to that at Rovers. At Bury their former owner Stuart Day spent years piling up millions in external High interest debts secured against club assets and property. With League Two income, crowds and no profile the only chance they had was to bounce into the Championship where the media money would cover it. Predictably Day ran out of time and sold them on to someone dodgy for nothing who had a history of liquidating businesses and with proper governance would never have been allowed to take control. Compare to Rovers where almost all the 'debt' is to our owners, interest free, with repayment requirement and hopefully a realisation in India that the money has gone. If Venkys turn off the taps then we need someone else to bankroll the club. No different to the majority of Championship clubs in that respect. Would we find someone suitable? Nobody knows. But we wouldn't be vulnerable to winding up orders and debt demands like Bury unless Venkys broke the club up to try and recover some funds. I accept and realise that Venkys are funding the club. Without them if nobody else came forward we would be in difficulties. But a stretch to suggest that we'd be Bury without them. Their approach of funding the club with debt is the same as Davies used at Bolton, as did Fayed at Fulham and Abramovich at Chelsea.

Personally if we aren't in the market for anyone else I'd be happy to offer Downing another year. Versatile, vast experience and still in good shape and injury free for his age. The stats don't lie on his key passes and assists last season - he was a big contributor. Could we do better? Yes But bringing him back adds extra options to help what we have already got. I also worry that with him and Graham gone we've of course got a lot of energy and talent in midfield and up front but a shortage of experience and know how. We could do with adding to that.

From a bastion of the local community, representing the town nationwide, the pride of Lancashire, to not moving shite and filth piling up outside the main entrance because 'it isn't our job to sort it'. If such a relatively small and inexpensive task requires outrage on the media and complaints being sent in by fans to sort then it doesn't bode well.

My concern is that if the 'Big 6' clear off elsewhere all that will happen is a different collection of clubs will replace them and come to take control and dominate the game. Expect Everton, Leicester, Wolves, Newcastle, Villa, Leeds to eventually become a new 'Big 6' hoarding all the talent and money. Then we'd be no further along just with different names running the show. It needs a root and branch reform led by the FA who have the legal power to do it. If they want to resign from the League to play elsewhere then fine, someone else will replace them, but make life difficult. e.g. no English player for those clubs would be eligible for England national duty, or refuse to sign off transfers which the FA can do if it wants. All sorts of ways of making them squim.

So predictably now come the threats that the 'big six' will go off and play somewhere else if the other clubs in the country don't agree to their plans.. Call their bluff. Where are they going to play? A 'Super League' would require FIFA and UEFA approval and would decimate leagues across Europe. It won't happen. Play on their own in a division of six or eight? That will be fun playing the same few clubs 4 times a year. I've seen a few reports stating that they need 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs to agree for this to happen. Where do the FA and League fit into all this? Surely they have to have a say rather than just 20 clubs deciding what happens? I wonder if the odious Rick Parry is on commission for this and is set to land himself a pension windfall like Scudamore did a few years ago? What sort of League Chairman would be proposing abolition of the League Cup? Its akin to the FA suggesting the FA Cup should be scrapped or UEFA binning off the Champions League. it shows where his loyalties lie and it isn't with the Football League.