Speculating in the extreme, I wonder if Travis would be a covid-related omission?

For international superstars, that's mostly correct. Other very good players in certain positions often emerge quite a bit later. You could just as easily say look at Lallana or Scholes, who only started getting games in their early 20s (Lallana in a team which was then relegated from the Championship). Just as it's too early to say that he's on his way to the top, it's equally ridiculous to write him off at this point.

Let's see - I think we went about the summer the right way (broadly) in terms of spending the budget on the right areas, so I'm not saying that I'm particularly annoyed about us not getting him. Even so it's never easy to see how these 'too good for L1' types adjust to going the step higher. I'd be shocked if he's as effective in his role as Travis is, but it took Rothwell ages to get to his current level, which is still inconsistent. Holtby is too hot and cold too. Buckley not there yet. We're well off for good/promising/useful midfielders in a way that we never used to be, but most have question marks next to them too so I'd expect that he would get plenty of game time for us. Anyway, the ship seems to have sailed. Like you, I'm not overly bothered about PNE (even if it has been an embarrassing run of results against a lesser Lancashire club!) so good luck to him.

Vaguely, big reputation who didn't really justify it. To be fair to him he didn't exactly come in at the best time to showcase his talent!

Pretty close to the team I'd like to see, although was Butterworth one of those isolating against Birmingham? Probably not going to be able to play if so.

The boy has clearly been very unfortunate with the timing of his injuries - but I'm inclined to agree. There could very easily be a good player in there, but unless he's playing well at a much higher level in the next twelve months, it'll be best for all concerned for him to move on.

No Carter? Have to admit I didn't really think bout Downing - definitely should be starting him in this one. I know he doesn't really possess the attributes that Tony wants from his attacking players, but as a one off I'd have him on the wing for this one.

Not usually one for making wholesale changes for cup games, especially in the FA cup, but I'd make an exception for this season. Chance to get minutes in for players who need them, rest the ones who have been flogged in a crazy start to the season. Pears Pike Lenihan Johnson Douglas Davenport Travis Buckley/Dack Dolan Gallagher Brereton

Not so sure. I'm not denying that there's something awry with our ability to pick up points against the better teams this year, but there's nothing in the games that we've lost which tells me that we should be frightened of any of those teams. Norwich away could end up being very difficult if they improve with more players back, but Bristol and Brentford at home & Millwall away don't scare me one bit. Reading blow hot and cold, as do we. Definitely some wins to be had if we look after our game (admittedly a big if). 100% with you on tomorrow's game. We have to look at the four games before the cup game as a chance to close the gap and rack up some points.

As things stand, a win tomorrow would put us in the top 6 if Brentford don't match our result. Usually the sort of situation when we start a 4 game winless run!

I might be misremembering, but in my head the Reading game was one of those where we seemed quite badly depleted. If we had a decent team out then I'd definitely concede that they outplayed us. I remember Watford as being very similar to Bournemouth in that they were much more adept at taking their chances when they came along, but rightly or wrongly I recall feeling that we were very unfortunate to have lost.

True enough, but he did well at Birmingham when it was a madhouse and not particularly well resourced. No guarantees that he'll do similar at Forest of course, but personally I think the smart money will be them finishing mid-table then competing for the top six next season.

Completely with you on Mowbray. I'm one of those sad people who even looks at message boards for other clubs when they play Rovers, and it's amazing how often fans of other clubs have compared Mowbray favourably to their own manager. I disagree about overestimating Hughton though. I think we always deal with uncertainty when it comes to football managers - there's always the possibility that an otherwise good manager might not work out at a certain club at a certain time - but Hughton's record at this level is pretty much unblemished. It's probably too late for Forest to think about the top 6 even with a fantastic run, but I'm supremely confident that he'll get them safe and sound well before the season's close, and next season they'll be looking upwards.

That penny really dropped for me in the first half against Brentford. I'm not sure if they were playing within themselves a bit, but we went toe-to-toe in playing a high tempo attacking game and we outplayed them. Not saying that we definitely would have won without the sending off, but we've played plenty of the better teams now and I don't think that we've been outplayed by any of them when it was 11 vs 11. We've only really struggled either i) during a massive injury crisis or ii) against teams that are set up to frustrate us. The issue we have is turning good performances against good teams into the wins we deserve. Only getting 1 point from the performances at Brentford, Swansea, Watford and Bournemouth is ridiculous, although to a certain extent you credit them for being more clinical. I think Bristol City are probably the sort of team that will look to attack us but don't have the individual quality that some of the other teams at the top do, so I can see the game suiting us quite well. 1-3 Rovers

I'd personally have Trybull in there in front of Johnson. Should be fresher, and I'm pretty sure he won't be able to play against Norwich, so better off giving Johnson a rest and save him for the weekend. Other than that, I'd go with the same team.

Game of opinions, but I would be absolutely amazed if it turns out like that. Genuinely shocked. I can't agree that he's nowhere near ready either. He's only doing it in flashes at the moment, but when he gets it right he can already see passes which nobody else in the side can, perhaps Holtby at an absolute push. Even yesterday he showed some lovely touches with the ball at his feet. He's a bit lightweight and inconsistent, I'll grant you. Patience with this lad will be rewarded by the bucketload.

I did find myself wincing as I typed it! I'm certainly not his biggest fan (not sure any of us are) but I do think that he's improved steadily & is adequate back up at this level. Having said that he was really poor midweek, but I was pretty impressed by him today.

On Douglas, I could be wrong but are we certain that he's definitely injured? I know that he's obviously first choice, but given that we knew we'd be back against the wall in the second half bringing Bell on might've been tactical?

I think that's only true if it's considered a frivolous one. Not sure how they arrive at judgement, but if anyone can look at our case and call it frivolous then the game has gone!

Miracle point. So proud of the effort today

Big call. This is probably the game that on paper would have suited Williams the most since he's been injured. Toney's big and strong, but it's not really his physicality that should worry us. Out of the two we have available, Wharton is obviously the most mobile but he won't have been exposed to too many attacks like Brentford's before today. Plenty of managers would have gone with Ayala's experience, so let's see how it pans out.

To be fair, Middlesbrough have improved plenty since Colin has showed up there. Still well in the hunt for a top 6 place and it wouldn't shock me if they're competing for the automatics in the spring. Have to admit I'm surprised that Hughton hasn't had more of an obvious impact. He does seem to have tightened up their defence, but points haven't followed. Might be different once they get Grabban back.

Would be good to get both Dack and Travis ready to start the F.A. cup game. Any significant contribution before then is a bonus.

One of those players where you would not be confident of replacing even with a massive budget, so I wouldn't be happy selling him at any price, really. In terms of what we should be accepting, I agree that something like 25 million is what should be required to start a conversation. If we're still in the hunt come the end of January, I wouldn't even consider that.

I know that controversial or underperforming players attract more discussion than players who do the business consistently, but I'm amazed that we've reached a total of 16 pages on Arma in just over two years. By himself he's managed to at least equal the number of goals scored by a third of all the clubs in the league. He's scored double the number of goals of Derby County. Amazing given about 12 months ago there was a decent argument that he'd struggle to start as a number 9 with no strike partner.