Ayala out for 8 weeks, according to JDT. Not inconceivable that we've seen the last of him in a Rovers shirt.

We should've won against Swansea too. Created some sublime chances that we conspired to miss. I don't think we'll tail off as badly as we did last year, but equally we still need to show play-off form between now and the season's end to reach the 70-odd points that we'll need. It'll probably be too much for us.

That's what I thought in real time, but looking at the replay I don't think it's quite as cut and dry as that. Vale's in a bit of space but he has four defenders who aren't that far away when Morton takes the shot. He didn't have too much room for error with the cut-back, so I don't blame him for taking the shot on. Missing the chance was worse than the decision making for me.

As bad as our injuries are just now, they seem to be in the same boat. Arguably even worse. Chris Willock, Clarke-Salter, Tyler Roberts, Dykes and Ethan Laird all out last weekend. Most of those are key players too. They'll be well up for this one with the new manager, but their squad isn't great and they'll still be fragile after being on such poor form. Going for a rare second goal for the Rovers in a 0-2 win.

All happened a bit quickly, but in real time I thought that he ran slightly past the ball by the time it reached him so would've needed to take another touch before getting the shot away. Could be wrong though.

I think it's just poor anticipation rather than lack of effort. I think he visibly puts a shift in, but he's no good at all at finding space in the box. Couple that with his often poor first touch, he is never going to be getting a hatful of chances. I think season shows that it was never going to be a case of 'play him centrally - problem solved', with Gallagher. He is a better player than he has shown recently, but at the same time he just has some fundamental flaws to his game that are always going to hold him back.

They might've beat Stoke at the weekend, but it looks like they got out of jail a bit. One shot on target and 31% of the ball. I'd bring in JRC for this one. Harsh in the extreme on either Carter, Hyam or Ayala, depending who would make way for him. I'd keep Gally in the team too given our lack of other options. Hopefully he'll have far better service tonight than he did at the weekend. Think this will be chalk and cheese compared to the Swansea game, but I can see the same result. Pears JRC Ayala Hyam Pickering Travis Buckley Thomas Szmodic Dolan Gallagher

He's sharp over 10-15 yards, but over a longer distance he tends to get caught by more athletic players. It speaks to the main problem he has to overcome if he wants to reach his potential, his size. Players as small as Dolan really have to go some to make up for that with serious ability and intelligence. I actually think he's making pretty good progress this season and I'm glad he's a Rovers player, but it's an uphill task for him.

Motherwell might not be the worst idea for 6 months. People tend to (slightly) underrate the SPL for me, but quality wise he should be getting regular game time and crucially, he'll get a steep learning curve in terms of what's required from physical, first team football.

Was meant to be about 8-10 weeks I think - so still at least about a month away.

The next four games present a massive opportunity. Rotherham, Bristol City, Blackpool and Wigan back to back is as kind a run as you get you're going to get in this league. Rovers being Rovers, we can't be counting our chickens too early. But if we have realistic play off aspirations, we should really be looking to pick up a good points return, hopefully starting on Saturday.

Might be being too generous, but I'm willing to put his less than impressive performances over the last couple of years down to his injury problems. He was never going to show much if he could only manage the odd appearance here and there before breaking down again.

I was going to post something similar, to be honest. Partially because I rate TK very highly, partly because I still think Raya (for all of his quality) has an error in him.

Isn't it just that we're holding onto a one goal lead and Morton is better without the ball?

5 changes, apparently. Gibson and Sargent rested. Still a strong side though, they're bringing in Krul who despite being their back up keeper, is probably paid as well as anyone in our squad.

Definitely - but it was a fair criticism that as a team, we were letting in far too many soft goals from crosses. You couldn't put all of that at Raya's door, obviously, but it was definitely an aspect of the game that he needed to work on. We didn't get enough money for him though, and replacing him with Walton for a season was a poor bit of business.

I'm fairly sure we do have a pretty decent sell on, actually. I forget how much exactly, but not a trivial %. Even with a year left on his contract I can't see him going for less than £20 million in the mad world which is modern football, so I'd say we'd be in line for a couple of million most likely.

I hope that your original team is at least slightly off, in that I really don't want to see Brereton starting. First XI players elsewhere by all means, but he's the player (with Ayala for different reasons) I'd wrap in cotton wool. I hope you're right about Dack playing though. I know you shouldn't push your luck with players who are coming back from such bad injuries, but equally he's needs consecutive games to have a chance of getting back to the level that he was once capable of.

Sadly, I don't think we've got a chance of that happening. He's not starting, but he tends to come off the bench plenty, so they won't be letting him go unless they bring in other options first, I imagine. Even if they do, it'll probably be to whoever can stump up the most wages, so I think a few other Championship clubs will be in front of us in the queue. This is all before whether Armstrong himself would be open to coming back.

Must admit that my view of JCH was pretty heavily influenced by his record at the start of last season. There was a decent spell where he couldn't hit a barn door, so ending up with double figures in a relegated team is not a bad return at all, and surprised me a bit. I still wouldn't advocate him as a BBD replacement though.

I think C is the clincher. Were we looking nailed on to finish midtable, there's still a decent case to sell even if most of the money just goes towards the balance sheet. As it is, we're probably about 8 wins or so (with a few draws thrown in) away from securing a play off spot, and you just can't see us getting that without Brereton.

Probably best for all parties. I'm sure there's a player there which is much, much better than what he's shown so far, but how can we justify giving him the run of games that he probably needs based on his performances so far?

Very close to the team that I would play, but I'd have Dolan in one way or another. Still a fair distance from the finished article, but he's been quietly productive when on the pitch this season. Deserves to play in games like this one.

I remember Wigan fans singing his praises before we played them away this season. Apparently he absolutely ruined them at Fratton Park when they played their last season. No doubt that he has badly disappointed this season, but I still suspect that there's a decent player there that will show some ability at some point. I just doubt that it will be with us this season.

I wouldn't mind Edun playing. Pickering has a tendency to pick up injuries and we're stretched at full back as it is. Garrett too did okay against Sunderland too, so I'd be happy enough with him getting some gametime. Maybe not starting given the amount of competition we have in midfield.