When was the last time we nicked a 1-0 away from home in stoppage time? Regardless of how well Bell has played defensively in recent matches we have to get Douglas in straight away to give us something going forward. On another note, Chris Hughton has a hex over us. I may be imaging it but we hardly ever seem to beat his sides. I knew as soon as he was appointed we were in for some pain today.

Victims of our own successful start to the season. Both Cardiff and Forest have come to frustrate and so far have succeeded. Having said that, being without Dack, Holtby, Rothwell, Williams, Travis, Rankin-Costello, Douglas, Tybull, Elliot and....errr Bennett...doesn’t help either

Get Evans off

I thought Cardiff were successful in nullifying our style, often illegally but one thing stood out again for me: literally every time Nyambe got into an attacking position the move broke down. He managed to win one corner from his numerous attacking escapades. Yes, his main role is to defend and he did that well today (likewise Bell) but he MUST improve his final ball and ability to go round a man on the outside. As soon as he gets the ball in an advanced position I give up. There is no end product. From memory I can remember one of the 5 goals we scored at Hillsborough being down to a Nyambe surge but I’m hard pressed to think of another. If we are going to play without two natural wingers then our full backs have to offer more going forward...or at least one of them has to. Having said that, I’m quite happy with a clean sheet, three games unbeaten and looking quite solid. Johnson has clearly found his mojo and long may it continue.

At times, Brereton looked our best player today...driving runs, tackling back etc etc...but then he inexplicably misses an open goal when under little pressure. I can’t fathom him. Bell’s performance epitomised his Ewood career. Regularly receiving balls in promising situations, only to make the wrong decision (penalty aside). I can forgive a few defensive errors if a player provides a genuine threat going forward but he doesn’t. He can’t be our first choice at left back. Wharton looked solid enough but there will be much bigger tests. He can be the new Paul Downing and play when required but we need a partner for Lenihen and sharpish. Fisher lacks match experience and it showed on a number of occasions. A full season on loan (actually playing regularly) will hopefully get him right. He’s nowhere near ready yet. Dolan impressed. His low centre of gravity and tigerish qualities make him a real prospect. He seems to have a decent football brain too. All very early yet but...I can see him having a big impact for us this season. Not surprised at all by the way the game unfolded...it’s what Rovers do, especially in early season cup fixtures of late. Entertaining but also worrying in equal measure. Two new CBs and a LB and I’ll sit more comfortably.

Like the collar, like the shade of blue, quite like the sponsor (Peel off the EC and it says Roverite!) but why the red trim on the arms? Minus the trim it’s very much the Crown Paints kit of the (nervous cough) Venky’s takeover season.

He’s never going to oust Matt Ryan from between the posts at Brighton and if Ryan ever ends up getting a move to a bigger club (which I can see happening as he’s one of the best in the top division in my opinion) then I would expect them to spend big on a replacement. Walton is destined for a career below the Premier league...would I sign him? Right now I’d take anyone!!! His performances after the restart were concerning but that doesn’t mean he can’t find the form of earlier in the season. Ideally, yes, I’d like someone better but we haven’t got the scouting network or money to achieve that at the moment. If Brighton offer another season long loan I’d probably take it but I don’t think it will happen.

This may have already been mentioned but Jordan Jones is from Redcar and started out at Boro...right up Mowbray’s street!

Prior to having his head re-arranged I seem to remember Corry Evans was forming a very good partnership with Lewis Travis and that some of Evans’ performances this season have been his best in a Rovers shirt. Consistency is of course key but I wouldn’t write off that midfield pairing just yet.

Regarding Wharton, he’s now played over 100 games in the Football League, largely for promotion chasing teams in L2. When Coyle threw him into the side he was raw and if I remember correctly debuted against Burton in a 2-2 (Sam Gallagher getting his first goal for us in that match). He wasn’t ready then, but there have been many other lower league defenders who have stepped up to the Championship and excelled. Maybe time for Wharton to get his chance

I’m still discussing Oumar Konde so that logic doesn’t work ha ha

It always felt that Holmes was bought off the back of his performance for West Ham on the last day of the season...and that wasn't necessarily representative of his regular ability. Maybe I'm being harsh but he was a big disappointment, but you're right...we should have been looking to sign a higher quality of player at that point

Realistically I want to choose players who actually played a decent number of games as one match here or there isn't really representative...let's see how it goes: Alan Fettis Bradley Orr Darren Peacock Gordon Greer Gary Croft Keith Treacy Jason Lowe Hope Akpan Matty Holmes David Goodwillie Chris Brown

If it was players at their best regardless of their spell at Rovers then the task would be impossible...Cole, Yorke, Fowler, Sukur, Baggio, Djorkaeff, Batty to name but a few...

Always hard is this: GK: Friedel RB: Berg CB: Hendry CB: Nelsen LB: Le Saux RW: Ripley CM: Tugay CM: Dunn LW: Duff CF: Shearer CF: Bellamy Subs: Flowers, Samba, Henchoz, Sherwood, Wilcox, Gallacher, Sutton (Couldn't find a place for McCarthy or Santa Cruz...loved them both though!)

The wind had a big hand in proceedings today, and in the first 20 or so minutes of the second half Swansea seemed to manage it much better. That was their purple patch and they didn't kill us off. I'm disappointed not to have won but in the end it was a point gained and our goal difference protected. Always satisfying to end like that against an opposition who practice the dark arts. They got what they deserved...how often have we not been able to say that? Really pleased for Gallagher to score, I thought the criticism of him after the Stoke match was a bit much. He runs his socks off for the team regardless of where Mowbray picks him. Brereton's (slightly longer than usual) cameo was entertaining and offers hope for the future. There's something there definitely even though the 'Bambi on ice' was on show as ever. To be fair to him, most players would have gone for glory in stoppage time...many of them would also have endangered the ducks in the river Darwen. Onwards to Derby. This league...anything can happen.

Our play in the first ten minutes could never be sustained for 90 minutes, but it was disappointing how quickly we dropped off from that intensity and incisiveness. Having said that, Stoke noticeably pushed up and went tighter after we'd carved them open a few times early on. For me, Rothwell should be hugging the left touchline rather than Bell. Rothwell is at his most dangerous when cutting in from the wing, something that Bell just hasn't got the confidence to do (I think the ability is in there somewhere but unlocking it???) The same issue to a lesser extent happens on the right as the out ball is always to Nyambe, who has improved immensely but still doesn't offer the kind of delivery or trickery that a genuine wideman would. A frustrating night but not a disastrous one

We haven't beaten Stoke at Ewood in the league since Big Sam's first game in charge. Stoke have won the last 3 and drawn the other. Putting that record to bed would be nice

Agreed, but we were missing Dack, Holtby and Rothwell. JRC had two opportunities to shoot early on but chose the wrong option on both occasions. I thought Hector was outstanding for them at the back and was the best player on the pitch. We didn't get close to them because of the quality they had in key positions.

We do not have a god-given right to win every match and yesterday proved that. We were beaten by the better side and yet for vast periods of the match we contained them and competed with them. Given our injury crisis and the quality in the Fulham side I was expecting the kind of game we witnessed. Luck was against us in terms of the dubious offside decision and every loose ball seemed to drop to Fulham but on balance, they deserved to win. Frankly, given our current situation I am happy that we are competing in every fixture, the lads are giving everything for the cause and our relatively comfortable mid-table position is not a massive negative by any stretch of the imagination. We are seeing youngsters like Travis and Nyambe developing into real talents, we have found a relatively settled and competent back 4 and we have that mix of experience and youth that bodes well for the future. Four games ago we won 5-0 at Hillsborough...another side whose fans no doubt are saying that they should be doing better, likewise Stoke and many others. This is the nature of the division. We are an average sized fish in a moderately big pond. Beat Hull on Tuesday and it's butter side up again

Adam Henley once scored the winning goal at Hillsborough...anything can happen! Back on planet earth, I can't see beyond a Wednesday win

We've now seen Wigan, Preston and to a lesser extent Birmingham, come to Ewood with no intention of winning but doing their conniving best to slow the game down, disrupt the flow and in general employ anti-football tactics. The antics of Ben Pearson yesterday were a disgrace and the referee, if he'd have possessed an inch of fibre, would have booked him before half time and curbed his 'shithousery' (to quote PNE fans on their own forum). We saw similar performances down in League 1 (Plymouth at Ewood springs to mind) where we struggled to get round such tactics. I think I've reached the conclusion that we are unlikely to see a referee who deals with the Pearsons of the world properly and that as such, Mowbray needs to find a way of setting up against such sides. We were hamstrung by two injuries yesterday that prevented us bringing on Rothwell or Chapman, but if anything we regressed in the second half when really we should have been getting at a poor Preston team. Do I have faith that Mowbray can learn from yesterday's battle and find a way to overcome the anti-footballers? My faith is waning by the day.

They did it once with David Ellary back in the late 80s. Tony Adams was at him all match and was booked for it. I'd love to hear the refs thought process for some of his decisions today!

Just out of interest, can anyone remember the last time we scored a late goal that affected the result of a match? I'm thinking last 10 minutes...

You can almost feel his anger when Walton wants to kick it long. A Pep graduate he most certainly is.