I think this is as winnable a fixture down there as we've had in a few years. Despite having Toney in amongst the goals, overall I think they're a weaker outfit than last season without Watkins & Benrhama, whereas we're stronger in all areas. Their record in their new ground is ok I guess, but 2,000 fans in there will be far less intimidating than 12000 in Griffin Park was. My niggling doubt is Rovers' disjointed performances recently, but the onus is on them to come at us and if they do, we have plenty of speed & craft offensively to do them real damage. No BB sadly, but with the likes of Arma, Rothwell, Elliot & Dolan we've plenty of speed to burn. If we can keep solid at the back & get control of midfield (likely via Holtby & Trybull) we've got every chance of a very commendable 3 points. All that said, I'd probably take a draw now!! ?

I have to say that I felt similarly at the time, especially re Gallagher & Holtby. However it is also worth noting that it was those 3 midfielders (Buckley in winning possession (in tandem with Johnson), Rothwell in carrying the ball forward, then Downing in carrying it across the box) who combined to bring about the winner. Mowbray could quite legitimately argue that his choice of subs turned 1 point into 3. I wholeheartedly agree on everything that's been said about the kit clash, and how pleasing it is that we appear capable of grinding out victories in attritional matches as well as turning on the style in "easier" games. Bring on Brentford, that promises to be a bit of a humdinger end to end affair which will better suit our 433. Hopefully we can remain solid at the back & do some damage on the break.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55152637 And so it begins... something for the European Scouting network to get its teeth into! Best of luck to them I say! Could be good for homegrown youngsters mind you.

Not dropped, rotated. With two games a week for 2 months, get used to it all over the park!

Good lineup that, probably only 4 players missing from a best 11 (Dack, Travis, Ayala / Williams & possibly Nyambe). Should have too much today for Luton, but I expect they'll not be push overs. Hopefully their 2 wins last season will breed a bit of over confidence & we can exploit holes in behind.

Kaminski Lenihan Travis Armstrong Dack However, so far this season it's: Kaminski Holtby Johnson Rothwell Armstrong They've been our 5 most consistent performers so far this season imo and are the key 5 that allow us to play the 433 most effectively. Problem is the middle 3 are all capable of stinkers...

What a legend.

I agree, I'd say that article & the opinions therein accurately sum up the turmoil our great club has been put through. I for one am hopeful (as opposed to confident) of a brighter future given the arrest of the slide these last 3 years, albeit being reluctantly resigned to the likelihood that it will include our current owners for the foreseeable.

I'm just trying to give it some perspective, I'm not giving the teamtalk! This game is not the be all and end all. Yes it's important for confidence, momentum etc and I'm certainly not belittling that. The problem with "expecting to win" is that if we don't win, the supposed consequences of that are magnified beyond reality and it puts additional unnecessary pressure on the next game (it being at Preston is pressure enough). The reality is that if we win we're not guaranteed to go up; lose and we're not guaranteed to stay down. It's a marathon not a sprint and there's still 75% of it left to go after Saturday. This is the right way to think in my opinion; expects ups and downs, keep level headed and maintain some sanity!

Fair point, and perhaps only recent history (which isn't good) plays a part in the mindset here, but even then the context is very different as both teams (certainly ours) will be significantly different from the ones that played there last season, and for us that match was effectively a dead rubber whereas for them it was a matter of survival. By the same token, looking at the match completely in isolation Luton are above us in the same division, so it cannot in any way be viewed as an easy match. My point was that there seemed to be a feeling building of, "it's only little Luton, if we can't win that we'll not do anything", but football isn't like that as for 80+ years we've been a bigger / better club than them, yet we're still winless there in 20 league attempts! We can take nothing for granted. We'll have to work hard & get some luck to earn 3 points on Saturday. But we're absolutely capable of doing it and breaking our hoodoo, of that I have no doubt.

It's up for discussion because they're in the same league as us, next game up, are above us in the table (albeit having had an easier run of fixtures, on paper at least) and we've never won there in the league in 20 or so attempts across various divisions! 5 points back from 6th at this stage of the season is nothing. Yes that needs to be improved upon but, given our run of fixtures, injuries & illness up to this stage of the season, I'm confident it will be as we enter a period with a lot more winnable games & players returning. Hopefully starting with Luton, but I won't be throwing my hands up in despair for the rest of the season if we don't win.

https://www.11v11.com/teams/luton-town/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Blackburn Rovers/ According to this website, we have won once at Luton Town since 1937, in about 20 games, which was in 2007 in the FA Cup. So never in the league. So historically it's not a happy hunting ground for us, yet we've still had plenty more overall success than them in that time. Nothing significant will be decided on Saturday whether we win, lose or draw. I think we are more than capable of winning on Saturday, but would suggest that those thinking we are underperforming if we don't, or that it is somehow a barometer of how rubbish TM is if we fail to win, ought to think again.

He will be anyway due to his time away with Namibia, which regardless of anything else would be the right call in my view.

You forgot about Coyle. I wish I could.

My sister in law is a Wrexham season ticket holder & is very excited by this. They put out a spoof promo video advertising Ifor William's Trailers - Wrexham's club sponsors- as part of their announcement of imminent takeover. All a bit bizarre, but good luck to them I say.

Yes, I'm with you on that but I guess it's intended to be neutral language that doesn't lead the reader.

Done; good luck!

Surprised that Kaminski & Armstrong are in, albeit pleasantly. We'll miss Holtby though, and it's a huge game for Wharton. Hope Lenihan finds his form & guides him through it calmly. I've no idea what to expect from QPR, but there's a certain amount of trepidation in my heart as it looks like they're just gonna sit back and let us try to break them down; our least favourite type of opponent. C'mon Rovers, quick out of the blocks, early goal(s) please

Quite, so plenty of time for the recent run of results to improve once we get back 50%+ of our best 11 players, and / or other clubs start suffering such problems in the numbers that we have.

To avoid people going overboard about our prospects this season (what's that, "too late" I hear you say?!), it's probably worth reminding ourselves about now of the first page of this thread. Most of us agreed we had a tricky start to the season fixtures wise, and that was not just the view of Rovers fans but also externally as evidenced by Admiral Nelsen's research above. And that was before we were aware of how decimated the squad would be due to injuries & covid... So I say let's stay calm, there's much water to flow under the bridge yet. ?

Haha, one of my better typo's!

"Strokers" are fox in the box types, like Andy Cole, Gary Lineker, Robbie Fowler, Jordan Rhodes who score 20 goals a season consistently, but rarely touch the ball outside of the 18 yard box. We don't have anyone like that amongst the first team squad; instead we have "forwards" who can score many different types of goals but don't hog the penalty area (Armstrong) or who score less goals but create for others & influence offensive play either from a deeper position (Dack, Brereton) or from a wide position (Elliot, Dolan, Brereton, Armstrong again). We also have Gallagher, who by rights probably ought to be the closest thing we have to a striker in a central role but he isn't played there (probably my biggest gripe with Mowbray) probably because that's where Armstrong has proved most effective since we ditched the Graham / Dack combination. The problem with strikers is that unless they score they're seen by many as a but of a luxury, or as lazy & selfish & don't contribute to the team effort. Rhodes being the clear example; he's hammered by many on here for his all round game yet his scoring record was excellent. Strikers tend not to fit a 433 as the system requires too much interchangability (is that a Dowieism?!) between the front 3. So we're reliant on the goals being spread relatively evenly across the front 3, the problem being at the moment it's only Armstrong who is getting them currently. If he can score another 10 this season (doable) & BB, Elliot, Dack & Gallagher score 35 between them (hopeful), with midfielders & defenders chipping in another 20-25 (doable) we'll not do too bad this season if we can tighten up defensively. So yes, we have forwards, not strikers. That's my main point!

Tomorrow will be a tough game no doubt, especially without Armstrong added to all the other missing first teamers. A quick look on Boro's website suggests they have 3 or 4 unavailable from their squad, which is far more preferable to our 10 or 11. In that context, a draw would be a good result. But we are still absolutely capable of a win against them despite that, and I find the pessimism on here - not just for this game but for the the season - quite unhealthy & dare I say worse than sitting next to my dad in the Riverside!!

Whilst that may be true simongarnerisgod and there are certainly weaknesses to work on, not many teams will be as ruthless in taking advantage of them as Watford, Bournemouth, Swansea etc. Nor will they be as able to repel us offensively. I just think there's more to be positive about than not in the current situation, whilst accepting there's room for improvement.

Well according to the club website, his rehab is going better than expected, so hopefully that's promising. We absolutely mustn't rush him back though.