Well I have to agree with blue phil, if I didnt have a season ticket, then I wouldnt pay the walk on price. For years Ive travelled the length of the country for home games, even to watch the youth team, however even though I am now moving back to the northwest, any further increase in ticket prices, sadly could be the straw that broke the camels back.

My biggest fear over recent years that irreparable damage had been inflicted on what was the people’s game, appears regrettably to be coming true. After Rovers finishing 6th in the league last season and qualified for Europe, alarmingly only 22,000 turned up at Ewood for the opening game of the season against Everton, whilst 3000 less turned up for the following game against Champions Chelsea. In my opinion, one of the main factors for the decline in attendances has been the advent of live television broadcasting of games, both legal and illegal. Premier league clubs sold their souls to the TV companies, for the financial rewards which many a club now or soon will have to rely on to keep them afloat. As a town team, with a low population to call on Rovers are one of the first clubs to be affected by the trend of declining gates. Whilst the TV companies have ploughed millions into the game, it has not actually been the clubs that have benefited financially but the players and their agents. With the sound of TV cash jingling in the clubs bank account, players have reaped the rewards, demanding higher and higher wages and bonuses. They are no longer sportsmen but entertainment personalities. When I say entertainment, I do mean it in the broader term, as the game has now become a tactical mine field with limited entertainment. Certain players have become house hold names, not because of their performances on the field but because of TV appearances on quiz and chat shows, attendances at film premiers or headlines on red top tabloids. Even their wives are now becoming house hold names. One of those even admitted on live tv that she didn’t realise that the teams changed ends at half time, to a point that she mistakenly cheered when her husband conceded a goal. The on field entertainment is quickly disappearing, the enfaces being on the tactical science, with any natural talent now being drummed out of players. The magic of wingers dribbling through defences and cutting the ball back from the bye line for a big centre forward to thunder a crashing header into the back of the net has long disappeared. In fact a centre forward who jumps more than 2 foot in the air or bumps into a defender, is more likely to be red carded than be applauded for his efforts. The days of crunching tackles have long gone; in fact the art of tackling has disappeared from the game, as the game increasingly becoming a non contact sport. The only players who now benefit are those whose acting ability surpasses their playing ability. Whilst the saturated TV coverage of the game has been a major catalyst in declining gates, the clubs have a lot to answer for, by allowing governing bodies to continue changing the rules of the game and players to dictate wage demands. The high wage demands has already priced a lot of clubs out of the market in buying British players, resulting in an ever increasing influx of foreign players, Rovers being no exception. Against Chelsea, Rovers had only 1 Englishman, 1 Welshman and 1 Irishman on the field at the start of play. This influx of foreign players if not already, has to affect the national team. If clubs had not capitulated to high wage demands, in excess of £25,000 per week for an average premiership player, then ticket prices could have been maintained at an affordable level for the working man, earning less per annum than the average player earns per week. And this too many fans are the cause of declining gates. Whilst there is a love for the club, there is no affinity with the players, fans can’t even pronounce players names let alone get into conversation with them. Players are so detached from the fans these days how can a loyalty be developed. The days of long term service to a specific club have long gone, as players and their agents act as mercenaries to the highest bidder. Football is becoming the status symbol of the rich, with the more fashionable clubs concentrating on executive boxes and corporate hospitality. The prawn sandwich brigade as Roy Keane once stated. How can a working man on the minimum wage justify paying a days pay to watch a game when the average player, whose turned up to the ground in a top of the range BMW, often bearing sponsorship logos, is earning in excess of £1000 for warming the bench. It is no wonder that supporters are going to frequent local bars to watch the game, whilst enjoying a few pints whilst still retaining funds to contribute towards their weekly rent or mortgage.

First the good news. Summer signing Francis Jerrers, has had his red card, recieved in the reserves, overturned on appeal, which now makes him available for selection against Man City on Sunday. And now the bad news. Rovers central defender Ryan Nelsen could face up to 3 months on the sidelines following his hamstring injury operation today. Rovers will also be without striker Jason Roberts for up to 3 weeks with a groin injury.

Derby Win for Reserves

Stephane Henchoz made his debut for Rovers after signing for the club last week, when he played the first 45 minutes of Rovers reserve game against Bolton reserves at Christie Park Morecambe tonight. In a non eventful first half, there was little between both sides, although Rovers appeared to gain more command of the game towards the end of the first half. At half time Henchoz, who hadn’t put a foot wrong, was replaced by Martin Olsson, who took over the left back role whilst McEverley moved to the centre to partner Matteo. Within 5 minutes of the restart, Rovers took the lead, when Joe Garner cut in from the left, rounded a defender and slotted the ball home past Walker in the Bolton goalmouth. Within minutes the former England keeper had to be alert to make two diving saves. First from Garner and secondly from Derbyshire. Whilst the first half had been non eventful the second half was full of entertainment as Rovers continued to increase the lead, with Olsson and Treacy linking up well on the left and an overlapping Nolan on the right, providing the twin strike force of Garner and Derbyshire with plenty of ammunition. Final score Rovers 1 Bolton 0 Rovers. Fielding, Nolan, McEverley, Stopfoth, Henchoz, (Olsson 45min)Matteo, Griffiths, (Judge 65min)Woods, Derbyshire, Garner, Treacy.

ok so I missed the 10 games for Bronby and 15 for Gala.

Young inexperienced, 26 year old keeper, thrown in at the deep end after playing 38 games for Columbus Crew, USA: A bit like signing a player from the conference. Hope I've not offended our American friends, but it was 1997, when the USA werent exactly a hot bed for developing footballers (translates to soccer players) Maybe that is also why he lacks as Bellamy states "fundamentals"

HECK........I saw that Brown was on the bench, but didnt realise it was the Brown......

Match Report by Scotty Anyone who, before the game, thought "oh, it's only Sheffield United - we should be easily beating this lot" clearly know nothing about football. It was always going to be a tough game against a fully-committed team played in a hostile atmosphere, and so it proved. The first half was just a battle. Both teams worked hard to close their opponents down, both were physical (without being over-physical), both defended reasonably well and, as a result, both created little. In fact each team only had one real chance each. United's came from (yet another) long ball through the middle of our defence that found Hulse free inside our area. Fortunately he went for power rather than finesse and blasted the ball wide on the half volley. He really should have scored. Our chance came after a neat bit of passing on the left that found the on-rushing Neill clear on the edge of the area. His curled right-foot shot floated wide when he really should have hit the target at least. So 0-0 at half-time which was a pretty fair reflection on the what had taken place. I thought we started the second half well and took the game to United. With Bentley and Emerton in particular playing well we started to string some passes together, found some space at last, and genuinely exerted some pressure for the first time in the match. Bentley put some great crosses over during this period, at least one of which should have been converted - Jeffers heading narrowly wide. Jeffers could also have had a penalty when it looked like he was brought down just inside the area. Eventually though our pressure was rewarded when McCarthy "won" a penalty. Neill and McCarthy had what looked like a bit of a heated debate over who'd be taking the spot-kick, Neill won, and then hit a poor penalty that was comfortably saved by Kenny. The Sheffield crowd, who had been totally silent for most of the second half, suddenly went beserk and reacted as if they'd just scored the winner in a cup final. And you could just see their team lift and Rovers' confidence wilt. Suddenly it was all United. Playing direct, pacey football they poured up field and took their turn to put us under pressure. And again, their pressure was rewarded with a penalty. I haven't seen the incident on TV yet, and I was sat at the other end of the ground so couldn't tell whether it should have been a penalty or not, but what I did see was the ref warning Zurab about holding before the corner took place. And I also saw that the ref never took his eyes off Zurab as the ball came in. So you'd think that Zurab might have had the sense not to hold on to his attacker. Anyway, the penalty was given, Unsworth stepped up to take it, and Friedel saved it magnificently. The game then became a bit frantic. Both teams took turns to attack, both looked as capable as the other of getting a winner, and neither seemed happy to settle for a draw. However, it was a total surprise when Sheffield were awarded a second penalty five minutes from time. A long, misdirected ball was seemingly controlled by Neill on his chest at the edge of our area. He wasn't under any pressure and I didn't see any of the United players appeal for anything. So quite why the linesman was manically waving his flag and signalling a penalty was anyone's guess. Unsurprisingly the Rovers players couldn't believe it but their protests were in vain. Up stepped Hulse this time and Friedel pulled off another fantastic save. Finally, in what was the last move of the match, United created another gilt-edged opportunity and Friedel, once again, made a point-blank save to preserve the point. Friedel was just a collosus. The man just gets better and better. Man of the match by a mile. Our full-backs played well again. Emerton linked well with Bentley going forward and defended well when he had to. His pace helped us out on a couple of occasions. Neill looks comfortable at left-back and again roamed forward well. If he'd have scored his penalty he'd have been a contender for man of the match. Ooijer looked much more assured than he did against Chelsea. He won most things in the air (he's good in the air) and stood up well to United's physical strikers. Zurab again looked composed but gave away what looked to be a stupid penalty. And it's worrying how often we get caught out by a simple long ball through the centre of our defence. We're just not commanding enough at the back at times. Our midfield improved with the addition of Tugay. Although he wasn't anywhere near his best (United didn't allow him the time and space he likes) he still helped us to pass the ball better than we have so far this season, certainly in the second half anyway. Savage did his job well but picked up a stupid booking in the dying minutes of the game - you have to wonder what goes through his head sometimes. Out wide we had two completely contrasting performances. On the left, Pedersen did little right. He frequently gave the ball away, his set-pieces were woeful, and it's hard to understand why he wasn't replaced early in the second half. On the right I thought Bentley was our (outfield) man of the match. He linked well with Emerton (we're a real threat down the right now) and whipped in some great crosses. He also worked his socks off defensively. We were found lacking up front. McCarthy did nothing and didn't work hard enopugh imo. He continues to try fancy flicks and back-heels as well that, more often than not, only serve to break down our attacks and allow the opposition to break at us. Jeffers worked hard and was easily our best attacker. He got into good positions, frequently finding space, sadly though his finishing wasn't clinical enough. He looked sharp though. Nonda came on for McCarthy with about 20 minutes to go and, but for one piece of classy control, didn't really have the service to impress. It's a shame that Roberts was injured as I think it was his sort of game. He'd have held the ball up better and would have had more chance to get on the end of Benley's crosses. You have to say that it was a good point in the end. When you go away from home, conceed two penalties, and our keeper is man of the match you have to be happy to gain a point. But that doesn't tell the whole story. We battled well in the first half and looked the better team in the second half until we missed our penalty. I'm sure if we'd scored it we'd have gone on to win the game fairly comfortably. However, it's worrying that we're not creating enough chances, or taking enough of the one's we do create. It's a bit like the last year of Souness's reign when we frequently outplayed opponents but created little. The difference though is that, back then, our forwards were just not good enough. Now I feel that we have real quality up front but it's just taking time for the team to click and work out how best to supply them. I'm still not worried about our league position, we're much better than where we currently find ourselves. I think it's unrealistic, after losing Bellamy, to expect us to finish as high as we did last season, but I'm sure we'll be comfortably mid-table at least by the end of the season. But we definately have some problems to sort out, specifically in central defence and sorting out our forward combination - and how best to feed them. Final Score 0 - 0 Sheff Utd: Kenny, Armstrong, Leigertwood, Morgan, Unsworth, Tonge (Alan Quinn 82), Jagielka, Sommeil, Ifill (Kazim-Richards 64), Hulse, Webber (Nade 17). Subs Not Used: Akinbiyi, Kozluk. Booked: Hulse, Tonge. Rovers: Friedel, Emerton, Khizanishvili, Ooijer, Neill, Bentley, Tugay, Savage, Pedersen, Jeffers, McCarthy (Nonda 72). Subs Not Used: Brown, Mokoena, Gallagher, Peter. Booked: Khizanishvili, Savage. Att: 29,876 Ref: M Dean

Could be joe garner

Shefki Kuqi, meanwhile, made little impression on his Palace debut. LINK

Could it be that Lucas is the designated penalty taker. He took the one against United last season and he is Australia's penalty taker.

Rovers moved off the bottom of the premiership after collecting a point in their away trip to Brammell Lane this afternoon. In a game where 3 penalties were awarded, 2 to Sheffield United and 1 to Rovers, it was the keepers that earned their wages. Firstly United's Kenny saved a Lucas Neill penalty before Blackburn's Brad Friedel once again living up to his Superman title saving both Unworths and Hulse attempts. Final Score 0-0 Match Report - Click Here

Rovers defender Ryan Nelsen will fly to Europe next week for an operation on his hamstring injury, that has kept him out of the team all summer. The club are hoping that if things go to plan, he could be back in action within weeks rather than months. Meanwhile Rovers defender Dominic Matteo could be heading to the Leeds in a loan deal. Egyptian defender Wael Gomaa who has been linked with a move to Newcastle, Tottenham and Bolton could join Rovers during the January transfer window after spending a week on trial at Ewood.

Sheffield United Vs Blackburn Rovers match preview by ihatethedingles On paper this match is a formality, a Rovers win with Benni and Gamst scoring a wonder goal, but as we all know football isn't played on paper and this match will be a lot harder than it looks on paper. Sheffield United like ourselves have only one point from their opening three games yet more encouraging for them is that they took their only point against the big spenders of Liverpool and were very unlucky not to take all three points on the opening day of the season had Gerrard not gone all fairy like in the penalty area. Both sides will be looking for an upturn in fortune after both being defeated twice in the three games they've played this season. Players to Watch ROVERS Andre Ooijer-After his awful debut he has a lot to prove, the club has invested a fair bit of money in this man due to his excellent performances for PSV and for the Dutch National side. He may have only played one game against the might of Chelsea and a lot of us are judging him on that one match and as such he does have a lot to prove. Given time to adjust to the Premiership pace and physicallity he should turn out to be a good signing, not every player can have the same immediate effect that a certain Mr Nelsen had. Morten GASMT Pedersen-Since he decided to change the name on the back of his shirt, he has looked a different player, who am i trying to kid, he's still not beating the first man with his corners and is offering very little down the left but we all know what he can do in a blink of an eye and the Sheffield United players will have to keep an eye on him. Shabani Nonda-This lad has got all the skills, the pace, the strength for a small man and if he stays fit and plays to the standard he has played to in the past in Ligue 1 and Serie A he will terrify defences in the Premiership as defenders don't like pacey strikers and Sheffield United's back four will be exactly the same. Sheffield United Phil Jagielka-He has been scouted by numerous Premiership clubs but no one has taken the gamble on him when players like Michael Brown has been gambled on and IMO Jagielka is a lot better player than him, he is a versatile player who can happily fill in at any postion at the back and normally plays in the centre of their midfield as a ball winning midfielder who feeds the ball through to their strikers. Rob Hulse-Never made it at Premiership level, always been the bridesmaid when at WBA, made something like four substitute appearances for them in the Premiership and was sold to Leeds United after being told he wouldn't be good enough for the Premiership. Now he's back in the Premiership and scored on his debut, Premiership start against Liverpool. Paddy Kenny-This man could be in for a busy afternoon should Nonda and McCarthy get the service they need, a top keeper IMO and i am very suprised he is still at Brammel Lane, i would have thought a bigger club would have taken a gamble on him in the same way i thought with Jagielka. Predictions Click Here

Whilst people are happy to have a go at players, sometimes they need to be praised as well. Well Done Todd

If rumours are true, Birmingham rejected a bid from Rovers for Dunn on transfer deadline day. £2 million. Should Brum have a poor season and with Dunn's contract coming to an end next June, Brum may be ready to cash in, come January. If the rumour of a bid is true, then it's given Dunn, whose a regular visitor to Ewood, a clear signal of Hughes interest.

Rovers have made their first incoming deal of the transfer deadline day, with the signing of AS Roma striker, Shabani Nonda on a season long loan. It is understood that the club will have an option to make the deal permenant at the end of the season. Meanwhile Rovers midfielder Jonathon Douglas joined Leeds earlier today on a 3 year contract. Rovers reserve team striker Keith Barker has joined Rochdale on loan until the end of January. Three former Rover strikers have been involved in transfer deals today. Andy Cole has joined Portsmouth from Man City. Dwight York has joined Sunderland from Sydney Ben Burgess has joined Blackpool from Hull City

My feelings on yesterday. Match Report

It was not the best of starts for Rovers new signing Andre Ooijer, as Rovers lost 2 - 0 to Champions, Chelsea yesterday in front of less than 20,000 spectators. After making a shaky start, he was involed for all the wrong reasons in Rovers conceading both their goals. Match Report..Click Here

Rovers 0 Chelsea 2. Most players hope to make an impact on their debuts but I would suggest that Rovers midweek signing Ooijer from PSV, will want to forget yesterdays debut against Chelsea. Things went from bad to worse for Ooijer, after making a shaky start; he put Friedel under pressure with a poor back pass, before being involved in both of Chelsea’s goals. Early in the second half he was alleged to have pulled Terry’s which resulted in a penalty and with 10 minutes remaining he allowed Drugba to get past and fire home Chelsea’s second. Up until the penalty Rovers had never looked threatening but in fairness although they had dominated the game, Rovers hadn’t threatened Chelsea’s goal either, apart from a Pedersen free kick that landed on the roof of the net. If there had been any consistency by the referee, then Rovers themselves should have had a penalty before the Ooijer / Terry incident, when Chelsea’s Carvalho pulled Roberts’ shirt, as it was the first incident went unpunished and the second went in Chelsea’s favour. After Lampard had converted the penalty Chelsea defended in depth bringing on Drogba as an outlet for the long balls lobbed out of defence, a tactic which ultimately resulted in their second goal, when the substitute brushed off Ooijer’s challenge before blasting a shot past a stranded Friedel into the net. As against Everton midweek, Rovers had dominated the game but failed to create any chances, which in the second half resulted in Chelsea’s keeper only being called into action on two occasions, a free kick from Reid and a close range shot from McCarthy. Whilst Bentley, Reid and Savage are adept at hassling and closing down the opposition, there is no creativity in midfield. The team is crying out for a midfield general, such as Tugay who can put his foot on the ball and create something for Roberts and McCarthy to capitalize on. As for Pedersen, once again yesterday he went missing for lengthy periods of the game and the team looked more balanced when he was replaced by Gallagher late on in the second half. The man of the match again had to be Emerton who playing his second game at right back, was excellent and got more crosses into the box during this game than he did for three years as a winger. A player once the target of fans, could soon be the darling of the Blackburn End with performances of this nature. As for Chelsea, on yesterdays performance they will not win many neutral fans over with their dire defensive tactics and could even struggle to retain their title. That said Rovers weren’t much better and now sit anchored to the bottom of the league with only one point in the bag. Rovers: Friedel, Emerton, Khizanishvili, Ooijer, Neill, Bentley, Savage, Reid, Pedersen (Gallagher 69), McCarthy, Roberts. Subs Not Used: Brown, Todd, Kuqi, Jeffers. Booked: Savage, Ooijer, Khizanishvili. Chelsea: Cech, Boulahrouz, Ricardo Carvalho, Terry, Bridge, Makelele (Mikel 88), Essien, Ballack, Lampard, Kalou (Drogba 56), Shevchenko (Wright-Phillips 83). Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Paulo Ferreira. Booked: Makelele. Goals: Lampard 50 pen, Drogba 81. Att: 19,398. Ref: M Clattenburg

Blackburn hosts defending champions Chelsea Sunday afternoon at 16:00 at Ewood Park. Last season the clubs split their 2 matches with Chelsea winning 4-2 at Stamford Bridge and Rovers winning the return match 1-0 against the newly crowned champions. Both clubs have begun the season below expectations, with Rovers losing to Portsmouth away 3-0 before holding on for a 1-1 draw at home against Everton (although if you want to get technical, we're on track with last season, having gotten 1 point from the same 2 fixtures). Chelsea will be looking to rebound from a disappointing 2-1 loss at Boro after an impressive 3-0 home victory over Manchester City. Predictions..Click Here

After Saturday’s game against Portsmouth, Wednesday night’s game against Everton was a vast improvement, with Rovers dominating the game for long periods especially the first half, however they lost the plot by allowing Everton to come back into the game late on in the second half. Rovers did the majority of attacking for the first half hour with Roberts being first to test Howard in the Everton goal. A fine through ball by Bentley found Roberts on the right who unfortunately drifted slightly wide before firing straight at the keeper. The next threatening attack revolved around our other summer sticker signing Benni McCarthy. A right wing cross was headed back across the goal mouth by Pedersen to the McCarthy, who from a tight angle volleyed the ball just past the upright. Another good move resulted in Bentley having a run at goal only to see his chip to Roberts be intercepted by Yobo’s last minute tackle. Five minutes into the second half Rovers got their just rewards when McCarthy got his first Premiership goal for Rovers. A run into the area and back pass by Bentley, let in McCarthy, who controlled the ball and curled the ball into the back of the Blackburn End goal from the edge of the 6 yards box, passed the stranded Tim Howard. From that point Rovers lost the plot and lost their balance in my opinion with the substitution of Gallagher for Bentley, as Bentley had been tracked back to assist Emerton. A word of praise must be given to Emerton, who in the unfamiliar role of right back, had one of his best games for Rovers. Maybe he has found his true vocation. As Everton pressed more and more for the equaliser, Rovers dropped deeper and with the substitution of Jeffers for Roberts it left no one up front to hold up the ball, which Roberts had done successfully for most of the game. Once again Friedel came to Rovers rescue when he made a brilliant save following a one on one confrontation with Johnson, however he was left stranded when five minutes before the end Cahill found the back of the net. A hopeful lob up field by Everton caught out Todd and Zurab, allowing McFadden to chip Friedel, who pushed the ball onto the post. Unfortunately Everton’s Australian world cup midfielder was first on the scene to tap home the rebound. Realistically it was a reasonable result bearing in mind our below strength defence and lack of creativity in midfield, things can only get better with the return of Nelsen, Neill and Tugay Rovers: Friedel, Reid, Todd, Khizanishvili, Gray, Emerton, Savage, Bentley (Gallagher 74), Pedersen, McCarthy, Roberts (Jeffers 80). Subs Not Used: Brown, Kuqi, Mokoena. Booked: Pedersen, Todd, Bentley, Khizanishvili. Goals: McCarthy 50. Everton: Howard, Neville, Yobo, Stubbs (Lescott 48), Naysmith, Osman, Arteta, Carsley, Kilbane (Cahill 63), Beattie (McFadden 64), Johnson. Subs Not Used: Wright, Davies. Booked: Osman, Arteta, Beattie. Goals: Cahill 84. Att: 22,015 Ref: U Rennie

Match Report by Anti Euro Smiths Fan "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," wrote Portsmouth-born Charles Dickens. Yesterday, in this tale of two football clubs down at the coast where Dickens was born, it was definitely the worst of times from a Rovers perspective - shocking, spineless and utterly inept. Rovers were off the pace and second to the ball all afternoon. It was quite disgraceful. The warning signs had been there prior to Todorov's opening goal. The defence couldn't cope with simple balls played over the top. In particular, there was acres of space on the left-hand side of our defence. For Portsmouth's first goal, Lucas Neill made a complete hash of things. From the Portsmouth cross, Todorov scored a simple tap in. I thought Andy Todd should have got tighter to Todorov in the box. The defensive shambles continued for the rest of the match. Lucas Neill was guilty of a bad tackle for his first yellow card. From the resulting free-kick, Sol Campbell nearly scored with a header. For the second goal, another ball over the top caused havoc on the left-hand side of our defence. Pompey had time and space to cross from the by-line and Kanu headed in. The third goal came from a diagonal ball lumped in from the right, which was again headed in by Kanu. We were incapable of dealing with balls played into the box. It could have been 4 or 5 nil to Pompey. As well as the penalty miss from Kanu, one of their other strikers missed a sitter towards the end. Mark Hughes prides himself on having a strong defence, but our defending yesterday should set alarm bells ringing. Indeed alarm bells should have been ringing after losing 5-0 to Olympiakos in pre-season. Olympiakos are not Barcelona - they have never been beyond the quarter-final of a European competition. They were thrashed 7-1 on aggregate by Graeme Souness's Newcastle in the last 16 of the UEFA Cup in 2005. So the Greeks aren't exactly world beaters. Without Ryan Nelsen at the back our defending is far less secure. Hughes likes to pride himself on the fitness of our squad, but worryingly Rovers were lacking in sharpness and speed compared to Portsmouth. Not for the first time, Bentley and Pedersen went missing in a match. To be fair to new striking partnership Roberts and McCarthy, the service they got against Pompey was woeful. It just would have been nice to have seen a bit more movement from them. A couple of weeks ago Jason Roberts ludicrously suggested that Rovers could finish in the top four this season. Welcome to the real world Jason. Saturday's shambles illustrated the weaknesses in our squad. We lack strength in depth in vital areas. We lost the services of Bellamy for £6m, but only spent around £5.5m on Roberts and McCarthy - spending less money than we received. The LET suggested we had £10m to spend this summer. It's looking rather less than that. How can we hope to compete at the highest level if Mark Hughes doesn't have any decent funds to work with? Portsmouth: James, Johnson, Primus, Campbell, Stefanovic, O'Neil, Pedro Mendes, Davis, Taylor, Mwaruwari (Thompson 87), Todorov (Kanu 59). Subs Not Used: Jordan, Hughes, Pamarot. Booked: Taylor, Stefanovic. Goals: Todorov 26, Kanu 62, 84. Rovers: Friedel, Mokoena, Neill, Todd, Gray, Bentley (Emerton 69), Savage, Reid, Pedersen, McCarthy (Kuqi 82), Roberts. Subs Not Used: Brown, Jeffers, Gallagher. Sent Off: Neill (65), Todd (90). Booked: Neill. Att: 19,523. Ref: A Wiley (Staffordshire). Edited by Alan75

Rovers have been drawn against Austrian side FC Salzburg in the first round of the UEFA Cup. Rovers have confirmed this evening that the away leg at Salzburg will be played on the 14th and the home leg at Ewood will be played on the 28th September.