The games that Duru has missed have been through injury, and he is now out for the rest of the season with a stress fracture of his foot Which is of course a worry, but not the same worry as him not playing due to a lack of (or perceived lack of) talent/application/etc

Starts this weekend for Batty - drew 0-0 - replaced in injury time - looks to have a dangerous long throw O'Riordan - drew 0-0 Olson - lost 1-0 Litherland - lost 3-1 Montgomery - won 2-0 Eastham - lost 3-1 Barrett - lost 2-1 Honor - drew 2-2 On the bench Garrett - drew 0-0 Goddard - drew 3-3 - on the bench following a return from injury Not involved in matchday squad Duru - drew 2-2 -apparently has a stress fracture of his foot & is out for the rest of the season No game this weekend Markanday Vale - currently injured Saadi Mafoumbi

It would have been good to see him get his full debut, but it seems Atcheson is further up the hierarchy at the moment (judging by him being named on the bench ahead of Litherland in recent weeks). Maybe at least in part due to Atcheson's size? It will be very interesting to see how Litherland's trademark runs (vaguely Rothwell like for those who haven't seen it, which is mental considering he is a centre back) fare in men's football. I hope (and think) he will do well.

Litherland has signed for Curzon Ashton (currently 5th in the 6th tier and in the play off spots) on loan until the end of the season, could make his debut tomorrow

It is probably in an effort to try to make the masses get excited in the summer when the "new project" involves them being promoted to replace the experienced players (Travis/Tronstad/Brittain/Hyam/Dolan) leaving as the players leaving "do not fit how Ismael wants to play", when the reality is that they just want paying average Championship wages. * Not that Dunn, Litherland, Atcheson, Tyjon, Powell etc do not show promise, just that they will likely be asked to replace some of our better (and most experienced) players

On the bench this evening Olson - lost 1-0 - made his first appearance in about a month on Saturday following injury, so this may be a case of being careful not to have him play too much, too soon

Look at the rest of that U20 squad, several have not featured at first team level. some are on loan at League 1 & 2 clubs, at least one is on loan in non league. So I do not think it is a ringing endorsement of ACDs form this season Goalkeepers: Elyh Harrison (Manchester United), Max Merrick (Hampton & Richmond, on loan from Chelsea), Matthew Young (Salford City, on loan from Sunderland) Defenders: Max Alleyne (Manchester City), Kaelan Casey (West Ham United), Kellen Fisher (Norwich City), Ben Nelson (Oxford United, on loan from Leicester City), Brooke Norton-Cuffy (Genoa), Ashley Phillips (Stoke City, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur), Oliver Scarles (West Ham United) Midfielders: Tobias Collyer (Manchester United), Darko Gyabi (Plymouth Argyle, on loan from Leeds United), James McConnell (Liverpool), Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City), Sydie Peck (Sheffield United), Jacob Wright (Norwich City, on loan from Manchester City) Forwards: William Alves (Cardiff City, on loan from Leicester City), Amario Cozier-Duberry (Rovers, on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion), George Earthy (Bristol City, on loan from West Ham), Romain Esse (Crystal Palace), Divin Mubama (Manchester City), Trey Nyoni (Liverpool), Dane Scarlett (Tottenham Hotspur)

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/25017665.blackburn-rovers-beaten-bolton-wanderers-lfa-youth-cup-semi/ Rovers’ youngsters missed out on a place in the LFA Professional Youth Cup final following a late 3-2 defeat against Bolton Wanderers. Valentin Joseph and Joseph Boggan both got on the scoresheet during an entertaining second half at Brockhall. But the visitors netted twice in the last 10 minutes to set up a final against Blackpool, who overcame Burnley on penalties in their last four tie. Bolton started brightly and Connor Lewis sent an effort over the bar after some good work by David Abimbola. Rovers’ fight sight of goal came from Frank Vare’s free kick but the midfielder, who has been around the senior squad at times this season, saw his strike fly over. Abimbola continued to cause problems and thought he had opened the scoring from close range, but a Rovers defender made a crucial block. The towering striker also delivered a dangerous ball across the face of goal after using his strength to get down the left, but nobody gambled at the far post. The opener came when Daeshon Lawrence picked out the bottom corner with a low drive from the edge of the area. Jamie Grayson had a chance to double the lead but couldn’t convert at the far post after getting on the end of a corner. Harrison Rice also saw a header clip the top of the crossbar as Lewis’ deliveries caused problems. Rovers didn’t have many chances in the first half but nearly got back on level terms minutes before the break when George Barlow made an impressive save to deny Joseph Boggan. The hosts improved in the second half and Nathan Dlamini forced Barlow into another smart stop at his near post after a mazy run. The equaliser came after more good play by Dlamini down the left. The visitors failed to clear his cross and Valentin Joseph pounced to slot home. Bolton had a big chance to regain the lead when Lewis seized a sloppy backpass but Blake Wolsoncroft made a good block. Moments later at the other end, Rovers were awarded a penalty and Boggan kept his cool to send Barlow the wrong way from the spot. The tie had turned on its head but Bolton got back level 10 minutes from time when Wolsoncroft couldn’t keep hold of a cross from the left and Lewis reacted quickest to prod home. There was one final twist in the tale as Leigh collected the ball on the edge of the box, beat his man with a clever turn and fired into the bottom corner. Lewis had a chance to wrap up the result in stoppage time but dragged an effort wide of the near post after Corey Nuttall had won back possession high up the pitch. Tobias Ritchie also tried an audacious effort from near the halfway line, but Wolsoncroft was relieved to see the ball drop just wide of the post. Rovers applied plenty of pressure in the final stages but couldn’t find a breakthrough, with Bolton defending resiliently to get over the line. Rovers: Wolsoncroft, McIlroy, Pates, Davies, Eze, Vare, Dlamini, Mansbridge, Potter, Boggan. Subs: Decandia, Thompson, Kelley-Quinn, Shaw, Sandhu. Bolton: Barlow, Taylor, Oliver, Grayson, Rice, Smith, Irwin, Mawditt, Abimbola, C Lewis, Lawrence. Subs: Kendrick, Lomax, Leigh, Nuttall, Ritchie, Thomas, L Lewis.

U18s lost 1-0, Sergeant went off with an injury late in the first half. It would seem that Rovers did name 5 subs on the bench, but neither Google nor the Premier League seems to know the names of 2 of them, despite the 2 unnamed players both getting on the pitch

Not sure what he has done since playing that game at Huddersfield (or before then to be honest), but he was playing for Huddersfield on trial in late February. Played against Preston B on the 25th Feb

That was one of the stranger contract renewals ever given out, not quite Ben Gladwin levels, but right up there. The only thing that would make any sense was that Rovers originally had an even lower budget than what we ended up with, and Saadi was going to be a squad option, before someone decided that a pound & a Mars bar wasn't quite a big enough budget and that they should maybe throw in a bag of marbles & a half smoked cigarette too

Shorrocks has definitely played at least one game on trial at Huddersfield

Not seen anything stating he was released, He has been fairly regular for the U18s this season (14 appearances, which given the player with the most appearances has 19, doesn't sound like someone who would be released) He also came off the bench for the U21s about a month ago, so would be even stranger if so

Only 3 players named on the bench for the U18s today, and a schoolboy in the team who has not featured so far this season, maybe we are running out of players? (injuries which have not been disclosed etc)

Not sure what stats you are looking at, our lot are getting hammered, but 3 shots on target according to these

Starts this weekend for O'Riordan - drew 1-1 - scored the opening goal - subbed off with 20 minutes to go with the score at 1-0, injured according to BBC Duru - drew 2-2 - withdrawn early in the second half whilst 2-0 down Batty - drew 1-1 - withdrawn after 72 minutes whilst winning 1-0 Olson - lost 2-1 - withdrawn after an hour with the score at 0-0 (first game back after injury) Montgomery - lost 2-1 - loan has been extended until the end pf the season Eastham - lost 1-0 Barrett - drew 1-1 Honor - won 3-0 On the bench Markanday - won 2-1 Garrett - won 1-0 - was a very late sub Saadi - drew 1-1 Not involved in matchday squad Vale - drew 2-2 - currently injured Goddard - won 1-0 - currently injured Mafoumbi - lost 2-1

U21s lost 4-0 away at Spurs this evening preview U18s are at home to Middlesbrough on Saturday, Alfie McIlroy (schoolboy centre back) is in the team at right back, and only 3 players named on the bench score/update

and the very same graphic shows that Cantwell is even more ineffective

Check your country can view it, there is a big list that cant tonight If you can then its https://www.rovers.co.uk/match/first-team/2024-25/g2450584 If you have a VPN, Italy is lovely this time of year

personally see it as being either Pears Carter Sanderson Hyam Brittain Travis Forshaw Ribeiro Dolan Cantwell Gueye or Pears Carter Sanderson Hyam Brittain Travis Forshaw Ribeiro Cantwell Dolan Gueye Possibly a combination of both, Dolan and Gueye pressing when out of possession and Dolan dropping back when in possession to try and add numbers to the midfield

Doesn't particularly look like he fills the goal, and seems to be the weaker of the 3 who are in & around his age group (Michalski & Sol Honor being the other two) Kahn's contract does expire in the summer (although Rovers hold a year option). Honor's expires in 2026 (again with a years option), and Michalski 2027, which presumably shows how the club rate each of those 3 in comparison to each other

Just to clarify, I was not making excuses for them. It is a diabolical result. The majority of my previous post was posted before the game, I added the single line about the result after the game

Starts this evening for Batty - won 5-0 Montgomery - lot 3-0 - final game for Chorley unless his loan is extended On the bench - Not involved in matchday squad Olson - lot 3-0 - currently injured

Pretty youthful U21s team for PL cup game vs Charlton. 4 players start who still qualify for U18s, and another 3 on the bench. Given that they lost 7-0, this was probably not the most sensible choice https://x.com/academy_brfc/status/1899522366977307010

There are lies, damned lies, and statistics 😉 I tried to post the twitter link, but for some reason it is not embedding I note that the above is only for inside the box saves, so presumably shows keepers who are often beaten from longer range in a much better light than they may deserve