What a great week! All the travelling over the past few days has been more than worthwhile. Yesterday I thought we were as good as we've been for a long while. I think the manager proved yesterday that you can chop and change the players if you have the right game plan - and we have had that in recent weeks. As arbitro said, we seem to be mixing the passing style that Mowbray wants with a more direct and combative style when needed. Leaving Johnson out seems to have done him a world of good. It now looks slimmer and far more mobile - the sort of player I thought we had signed in the first place. The spirit within the camp looks excellent - what a brilliant job Mowbray has done in that regard.

I must admit that I travelled back - and what another awful journey - very happy with a point. I thought we did OK against a side who looked very impressive but without the striking power of a WBA. I'm not Walton's biggest fan but I thought he did very well last night. I thought Lenihan, Travis and Evans were very good and Graham took his goal well. This was another away game when Rothwell failed to get involved and I would think his place must be in doubt for Saturday. The lad has talent but seems unable to deliver it with any consistency. Likewise Armstrong, gets into good positions and can deliver some decent balls but all too often he finds a defender rather than a fellow Rover. However, as a whole I thought the application of the team was good and we've turned a corner. I don't expect a top six finish - I've never believed these players are good enough to deliver the consistency required at the moment - but we are definitely getting there. As a work in progress we look to be heading in the right direction and hopefully a top half finish is well within our capabilities. As for the ref last night - at least he was consistently awful for both sides. If he is Championship standard I dread to think what the standard is like in the lower divisions.

79!!! I remember him breaking into the team and replacing one of my all-time favourites in Matt Woods. What a player Mike England was - a real class act. I was on the Turf that day when he scored a hat-trick playing at centre-forward. I also seem to remember him scoring an own goal - I think it was against Forest - from just inside his own half when a pass back to Fred Else went horribly wrong! Agree with you. England was the best centre-half I've seen at Ewood. Tosin is very much in the England mould as a ball-playing centre-half who has that touch of creativity about his passing. More importantly, he's also looks an excellent defender. Incredible how many outstanding players we've seen at Ewood in our lifetime. Not bad for a small town club tucked away in East Lancashire.

He didn't make much of a contribution at Stoke so don't think you can count that one! Not sure why the manager should be grateful to Rothwell for anything. Evans and Lenihan were the standout performers at Stoke but the recent games have shown that the manager and ALL the players are still very much on the same wavelength and working for and with each other. The performance at Stoke showed what a good collective spirit we have at the club at the moment - long may it continue.

Certainly wasn't anything like that. We controlled much of the first half and in the second, when Stoke came at us more, we defended well and looked far more organised that we have in some away games. The back four look much better balanced, Evans and Travis look a very competitive midfield pairing and having Bennett and Gallagher come on and play in their natural positions - and both play extremely well - was a real bonus.

Tough game and one in which we were on the backfoot for long spells. However, we defended well and looked well organised. Lenihan was a tower of strength at the back and Evans was outstanding in midfield. Evans really did run the show and looked a class act. The second goal was a well worked move with a neat bit of play from Dack and an excellent run and pull back by Bennett - who looks so much better in his proper position - and a good finish from Gallagher. Mowbray has taken a lot of stick recently but fair play to the guy he's come up with a winning formula - just need a decent goalkeeper in January. I thought his use of subs today was very good and kept the shape and balance of the team. Bennett looks so much better on the right wing than at full-back. In fairness, I thought Stoke played pretty well but lacked a cutting edge. It was an entertaining game and its been a great week with three wins.

Nyambe has had problems with the hamstring before which has kept him out for long periods. If there is any doubt I would prefer we rest him until the Derby game next week.

Another indifferent performance from the Under-23's. Davenport and Samuel the pick of the side with Samuel scoring a screamer. Once again Brereton and Chapman look a long way off the first team and I thought Carter and Whitehall had very poor games by their usual standards. Playing Mols at right-back was strange and not particularly successful in my opinion. I thought Davenport was excellent in midfield apart from one error, which in truth Burnley ought to have equalised from. However, he was all over the pitch winning tackles and covering for the two centre-backs. Gladwin is a long way from match fitness but the 45 minutes will have done him a power of good in terms of trying to get his career going again. For his sake I hope he can get back to fitness and continue his career somewhere. Nothing worse than a professional athlete being forced to retire early through injury. It was a long way from convincing, against a young Burnley side. but a win is a win and sitting top of the group with nine points at the halfway stage is not a bad place to be! Although two of the three remaining games are away it would take a massive upset not to finish in the top two and progress to the knock-out stage.

Correct K-Hod. It goes back to the eighties. In fact Rovers came to that particular party rather late.

I fully expected midtable this season and if, and it's a big if, we produce more performances like last night I would expect that to be where we finish. I suspect that will be good enough for the owners this season. Next season they may demand the play-offs and I suspect he will be given the opportunity to show whether or not he can achieve that. After all the managers that the owners have been through I believe that they have found someone in Mowbray who they see as a safe pair of hands and someone who they finally trust. Whether that translates into a promotion challenging team is another matter altogether.

I've never felt Mowbray was under any real pressure - apart from the pressure that he puts on himself to do well. He has the support of Mrs Desai - which is always going to be the most crucial element. These two wins have taken us well clear of the relegation places and still within touching distance of the play-offs. I certainly wouldn't expect there to be any change of management as mid to lower mid-table seems likely to be the worst case scenario this season. Personally, I fully expect Mowbray to be here next season.

Excellent win and a very good performance. Mowbray deserves praise for getting his selection and tactics spot on. I thought we had a decent spine to the team tonight with Graham and Dack up front and Evans alongside Travis in midfield. With Armstrong and Rothwell adding width, we looked far better balanced than we have for some time. Pity Nyambe picked up an injury because I thought he was outstanding. Graham and Dack again showed that they are the strike partnership we need to start with and introduce Gallagher - if we must - for the last twenty minutes or so. Raya showed just what we are missing between the sticks and a new 'keeper must be a priority in January. As for Brereton - what can you say - a comedy turn for the last few minutes. Feel sorry for the lad but he is clearly not up to it and really doesn't look like he ever will be. Brentford are no mugs and for me it was a thoroughly enjoyable game of football although the ref was up to the usual poor standard.

7 points, possibly eight and Mowbray will be here until well into next season - or when his contract ends in 2022.

Don't disagree about the goalkeeper. In all my years watching Rovers I think Walton is one of the poorest 'keepers I've seen - very much in the Matt Dickins class in terms of an accident waiting to happen. Over many decades of watching Rovers this is the sort of game when we often pull off an unexpected result and then lose something we ought to win. However, whatever the result I have little doubt that it will be Mowbray who I will see on the touchline at Stoke. Listening to his interview on Radio Lancashire with regard to the goalkeeping situation it's pretty clear that he has been given the OK to work on bringing in players in January. I doubt any decision with regard to the manager will be made until the summer at the earliest and I doubt Mowbray would walk if the team are around mid-table and clear of the relegation zone.

I suspect we might pull off an unexpected result tonight. Even if we lose, I have no doubt that Mowbray will still be manager on Saturday.

Totally agree with JH Rover and Stuart that tonight was a much better performance and more like the Under-23's that we are used to. I thought it was a really good game to watch with two sides going for the win. Mols and Davenport were the pick of the team for me. Both were excellent, particularly in the second half. Neither side really deserved to lose but, in fairness, Benfica did score two cracking goals late on. Hopefully, we'll keep a similar team on Friday against the Clarets - we look so much better without the so called 'starman' sulking on the wing!

If Rankin Costello is a League One player - then Chapman is North West Counties level! Chapman has been dreadful this season with an attitude that stinks.

No. There is a point in every young player's development where he needs to be challenged at a higher level than reserve team football. This has happened under every manager, particularly since the advent of the Premier League. It happened a lot under Mark Hughes who always preferred to have an experienced player as a backup rather than a youngster. There comes a point when you stop learning playing reserve football and start to stagnate. Players like Buckley, Travis, Nyambe and Lenihan, for example, have been given chances at senior level and are now beyond reserve football. Rankin-Costello, Butterworth and Mols are sort of trapped in a limbo - not gaining anything from under-23 football but not able to get opportunities with the senior team. For their own good I feel they need to move out on loan to help with their development - rather like Wharton at Northampton. At the moment a number of the lads are training with the seniors and then join up with the Under-23s for matches so I suppose it's understandable that the fluency is fast disappearing from their play.

Another dreadful performance from the Under-23s. Stagnation has well and truly set in. Sadly, it's something we've seen all too often over more years than I care to remember. Talented lads hang around in the reserves for far too long and then start to go backwards rapidly before being released. These lads need to get out on loan in January and not hang around waiting for an odd game sitting on the bench at first team level. Lads like Butterworth, Rankin-Costello, Mols are too good to stay at this level they need to step up and show they can do it in senior football which, in the long run, will be more beneficial to them. As for Chapman - who'd want him on loan - another awful night for a lad who seems to have seriously lost his appetite for the game. As JH Rover said, it's like watching the first team at the moment - far too much sideways and backwards passing with no end product. The fast flowing football we used to play at this level has disappeared. Terrible stuff to watch at the moment. City looked in a different class at times last night considering their indifferent results this season. They were quick, direct and played with a purpose - they were everything we are not at the moment.

I think he is still recovering from injury - Grayson (long term), Doyle, and Annesley are also out at the moment

Chapman has been poor all season. Not good enough for the Under-23s at the moment let alone the first team. I agree - but who'd take them on their present form?

Chapman, as a professional, must take responsibility for his own performance. Surely professional pride, if nothing else, should dictate he makes more effort than at present. If he's not going to make it here he must surely be looking to attract the attention of watching scouts. Anyone watching him in recent months isn't going to be too impressed. That's not a defence of the manager, but a young lad trying to make his way in the game must surely show more energy and enthusiasm than this lad does at present.

Chaddy, it is impossible to defend the kick-off time for the Burnley game. It's another kick in the teeth for supporters. I can attend but friends who work can't attend. If I had been working I wouldn't have been able to attend - despite going to games at this level home and away on a regular basis. As someone who spent all their working life in education I would be amazed and shocked if any school thought of taking children out of school during a working day to watch a football match. You really are losing touch with reality if you think any headteacher would court that sort of publicity! I'm afraid at the moment the club really doesn't help itself. I'm quite sure if they could get away with it - but they can't because of the rules - they would play behind closed doors with no supporters. Then they wonder why attendances are dropping. You really couldn't make it up!

Haven't seen the youngsters play as badly as last night for a long time. Players who usually stand out - Joe, Stefan, Danny etc were well below their normal standard. Chapman was just plain embarrassing - attitude and effort extremely poor. It was a very young bench so I'm not sure how Billy Barr could have improved it during the game. I thought Hertha were decent in terms of technical ability, were very clever in the way they blocked players off but their finishing was appalling. The officials were pretty poor just to add to a night that was a complete let-down and certainly no great advert for development football. As for the German fans, the club really were clueless in how to deal with them. I wasn't close enough to see what Joe saw but they were openly drinking and the stewards really couldn't cope. Why they didn't open up another area of the ground I'll never know but serious questions need to be asked about how the club got it so wrong - yet again!

In and out of the team in recent weeks. At the moment is no better than what we already have and certainly, for me, not as good as Davenport or Mols. This will, hopefully, give him regular games. We have a glut of good young players and it's difficult to give them all the time they need - particularly with some seniors needing matches to regain fitness after injury.