Not now, but it was a real disappointment at the time. Treacy was getting big plaudits in the youth team (the new Duff!?) and Sparky seemed to do no wrong in picking up quality strikers for next to nothing, so there were some hope that Rigters would be the next in line.

We've had a poor run against Cov over the years, but that sticks out as such an awful game. Treacy and Rigters in particular were absolutely appalling.

Along with Dack, this is the main think I'm looking out for tonight. I don't think Tomasson had much of an option but to leave him out of the squad vs Swansea, but I'd really like him to kick start his career here seeing as he didn't get the chance last season. If he looks like he has something to offer, all of a sudden we seem to have a really decent amount of depth at that area of the pitch.

We came as close as it comes to beating them at their place too! Towards the end of the game, either Dunn or Derbyshire, I forget which, hit the bar with a long rage speculator. Probably only fair to mention the two miracle saves that Friedel made before then though! Pretty sure we were playing Bruno Berner as a left winger that day, so fair to say we were happy enough with the 0-0.

Plenty of Championship clubs out already to lower league clubs. In fact the only ones who have made it through so far have done so by knocking out other second-tier sides. This will be a big banana skin with all the changes that we'll be making. Hopefully the incoming Dack, Markanday, Dolan and Vale will be hungry to take their chance and that will see us through. 0-2 Rovers.

FA cup too. Wigan away last year was most of the same team that beat Bournemouth a couple of weeks earlier.

Up there with the worst keeper's performance I've ever seen from a Rovers player. Woeful. If we're not willing to play him in a game like this though, we might as well not have him at all though. It doesn't look like we're after another one, so I think he'll probably play. At least it can't be as bad as last time!

Butterworth's been extremely unlucky with the timing and severity of his injures. Even so, he's turning 23 in September and is yet to do anything beyond a couple of promising cameos (and an equal number of pretty poor ones). If he's behind Vale now, I think his time is up. As with Davenport, I hope he has far more luck at his next club, because there is some talent there that can be nurtured.

Pretty abysmal that - especially because we had so many good moments in the cup under Bowyer.

I'd like to see him get a few chances as an attacking midfielder. That's meant to be his proper position, and it doesn't seem as though his body will ever let him play as a wingback/attacking fullback which is more physically demanding. Well down the pecking order at present, obviously, but with a few injuries and with five subs being brought it, he'll get his chance at some stage.

I'm not usually one for advocating massive changes in cup games, but I'd be more than happy with us freshening things up as much as we can with our squad, if only to give a few players the chance to show what they can do. Ideally starts for Dack, Vale, Markanday, Morton and Edun at the very least. Good cases for a few others too. It's far too early in the season to be thinking about having more in the tank than the opposition, but West Brom play against Sheffield United on the Thursday, as well as tonight in the league. They'll probably make a few changes in the cup, but there will also be a few who will play twice before we face them this Sunday. Three games in six days for some of them vs a whole week to prepare for the lads that we rest against Hartlepool. Might give us a slight additional edge, even at this time of year.

We'll see. You could be right, but I can see a scenario where someone gets desperate close to the deadline. I'd like to think that we'll have enough about us with Broughton to anticipate this and be ready to bring in his replacement quickly if such a situation arises.

Think you've hit the nail on the head there - he was pretty popular player before the lockdown and the start of his really prolific form, so I think he would've got plenty of adulation from fans had they actually been there to show it.

Pleased to hear that Edun had a decent cameo. Didn't really impress much at all last year, especially after his injury, so hopefully it was just a case of acclimatising to a new league.

Completely agree. Wigan scored in in the last second to beat St Helens in a classic Good Friday game a while back in similar fashion. Separates the best from the also rans. Back to football - there are however decent careers to be made from power and pace, even if they're missing the key bit between the ears. Josh King looked even worse for a spell when he was here, but getting slightly more clinical alongside being a physical freak took him a long way. Khadra's so quick that he might do the same.

Ha! I did think that whilst typing to be fair. Although I think the number of games where Buckley had a positive effect was bigger than Khadra's, and his errors/anonymous games didn't tend to be as bad. An interesting question might be how would we feel if Buckley was a prem youngster we got on loan, like Khadra was. How would we rate his contribution? I think the consensus would be that he needs to get greater consistency, but was probably on his way to an impressive top-flight career at some stage. Khadra, the jury is still out. Some fantastic elements to his game, but as @Tyrone Shoelaces has said, his flaws are harder to iron out than Buckley's.

Think this will just come down to a difference of opinion. Gally had a better season by his standards, but for me was below Buckley. The others you mention even more so - Khadra had a small number of great games, but overall had long spells not contributing or making silly decisions in the final third. I don't want to sound like he's the finished product - I think that's what makes him so exciting - and he did fade with the rest of the team after Christmas. But last year was a massive step forward for him, and I think he is one of maybe three or four players that we have that literally every team in the league would take if we offered them.

That'll be Jake Batty I expect. Picked for England at his age group.

Absolutely bullied us at Ewood. As good as Van Hecke was, he did have a small number of games where he looked like fish out of water and one of those was when he came up against Davis.

I think you could easily argue that he was to be fair. Certainly as far as the attack and midfield go, there was only Brereton who I'd have in front of him. I'd have him in the top five alongside Brereton and the back three.

Nasty player because he had to be. Despite being the best of the lot, he didn't even get in that Man United youth team XI because players used to just run over him. You can see their coaches telling him endlessly that he needs to find a way to not be bullied, because that would be the only thing that would stop him being a player. It's a different game now, but I wonder if Buckley's poor discipline can be attributed to a similar thing. I suppose a lot of Buckley's cards have come more through petulance rather than bad fouls, but there have been a few of those too.

Yeah - whereas in reality neither is really true. He definitely flattered to deceive. If Buckley drifts in and out of games, Rothwell was on a different level. For a player who got himself into so many good attacking positions, you'd expect him to score and create more than he did. BUT the way that he could travel with the ball from deep did play a huge part in our good early season form. Similarly to Buckley too, just because he isn't involved in the final ball doesn't mean that he hasn't played a vital role earlier in creating the chance. I think he's a good level Championship player, no point pretending that he's no good just because he binned us off.

Seeing Buckley's pointless yellow card last weekend screamed Paul Scholes to me! I think you're right that Scholes got stuck in more, but on the ball and how they play, there are some real crossovers I think. (Which isn't to say that Buckley's in his class - obviously. Although at the same time the world class version of Scholes which everyone remembers only really developed in his mid-20s).

I'm a huge Buckley fan, but I think saying he should score/assist more is a fair criticism. He was playing further up the pitch last year than Rothwell, so he should be contributing decent numbers. That said, I think the dilly dallying on the ball is something that he doesn't really do anymore. He keeps possession excellently and hardly ever gives it away unless it's when he's playing a through ball. I see Buckley as a bit of a poundshop Paul Scholes. His goals/assists actually aren't that fantastic, but will play a crucial role earlier on in the move and is vital at making the team tick.

Probably, but not necessarily at Rovers! James Beattie had an amazing career, for all the good it did us.