According to various sources Millwall have accepted a bid for midfielder Steven Reid. The versatile Irish international has been given permission to speak to Blackburn Rovers and according to Blackburns Chief Exec, John Williams, Reid will talk to the club once they return from the United States next week. The bid is believed to be in the region of £2.5 million. Reid is said to be pleased to be given the opportunity to speak to Rovers.

This news comes soon after the departure of Damien Duff to Chelski, showing that Souness and Williams are set to act quickly to try and add more depth to the squad, and possibly heal a few supporters' broken hearts in the process. Talented Steven Reid is as versatile as they come, able to operate on either wing and at full back.

Follow the developments of this story on the Messageboard, on the forums link above.

Henning Berg has decided to withdraw from the Norway v. Greece game as the terrible condition of the greek pitch is likely to upset his recently healed achilles tendon.

He has asked Norway manager Semb to be allowed play only a small part if any, in the international friendly. Good news for the Rovers!

Actually Alan Wright joined Rovers in 1991 (from Blackpool), and left for Villa in 1995 (10th March to be specific).

Alan I thought you were the main anorak here?  

The home game against Fulham on November 30 will go ahead on the saturday as scheduled, amidst speculation that it would be moved to sunday because of Fulhams participation in the UEFA Cup. However the game has NOT been moved afterall.

Poor sources was the reason for this misinformation. Apologies!

Gillespie is not a wing back though.  Souness should not have brought him on if he intended to play 3-5-2.  He needs to play out wide and clealy Souness doesn't like the idea of traditional wingers, and so when we do play 4-4-2 KG is always coming in deep.  He must be being told that's what he is to do, I'm sure his instinct is to go wide?

ste :-)

He did go wide, but he had acres of space on several occasions and chose to cross when he could have continued and take on a man when he should have crossed. I though most of his disicions were poor, and the final ball awful. Did you see one good cross from Gillespie? The quality of his crossing is not dependant on whether he plays wingback or out and out winger.

I thought Curtis was good last night. As good as can be expected. Agree that Neill was at fault for both goals.

The worst performer was no doubt Keith Gillespie! Offload him and use Neill in midfield where he belongs.

For those of you wishing to follow the game on the internet, the brfcs.com chat can be reached with this little button:

Or click the chat link at the top of the page, either on the forums or the main site. This should take you to the functioning chat.

The game will also be covered on BBC 1, BBC 2, Five Live and Radio Lancs, uefa.com and Network2

Have a great night!

Some more predictions (from The Press And Journal):

Former Blackburn Rovers striker Duncan Shearer last night tipped Celtic to progress to the next round of the UEFA Cup at his old club's expense.

The Caley Thistle assistant manager believes Martin O'Neill's men will prove too strong for their English opponents tonight in a game which has divided opinion among football experts.

Shearer said: "I think Celtic will win 2-1 down at Ewood Park tonight.

"Going by the first leg, everyone would naturally tip Blackburn to go through but I feel Celtic will score and I don't think Blackburn will be able to get three goals on the night."

Shearer's spell with Rovers was brief but he still keeps a close eye on events at the club.

He said: "I only spent a matter of five or six months at Blackburn before they sold me in the 1992 close season to Aberdeen.

"I was able to help them get up to the Premiership, which they went on to win a couple of years down the line, when I played in the play-offs at Wembley and we beat Leicester City 1-0.

"They ended up replacing one Shearer with another when I moved north. They paid £3.6million for Alan Shearer and sold him for £15million, so it was a reasonably good bit of business for them."

His prediction of a safe passage for Celtic is shared by many in the game.

CRAIG BROWN - Blackburn 2, Celtic 1: The former Scotland manager, now in charge of Preston North End, refused to let his heart rule his head.

He said: "In two-legged ties you normally attack in the away leg and defend at home. However, Blackburn are facing a one-goal deficit and, while I would love to be patriotic and predict a Celtic win in both legs, I think Blackburn will edge it 2-1 on the night and send Celtic through on the away goal rule."

MURDO MACLEOD - Blackburn 2, Celtic 1: The former Celtic midfielder and assistant-manager shares Brown's assessment.

He said: "I think Celtic will lose 2-1 on the night but the away goal rule will see them through. Blackburn are a better football side, as they proved at Parkhead, but they have put themselves under real pressure by criticising Celtic so strongly in the media.

"Although Souness will have his players wound up for the game, I think Celtic will score and that will see them through."

DAVID ROBERTSON - Blackburn 0, Celtic 1: Robertson helped Rangers to victory over Leeds in a European Cup match and expects the Parkhead team to repeat the achievement.

He said: "At Rangers we were being written off by the English press and we went on to win both legs. Celtic have had similar treatment and it will only add to their hunger.

"I played at Blackburn when I was with Leeds and the Ewood crowd isn't too vocal. Celtic supporters will be down in force and they can make it quite intimidating for the home team."

RON YEATS - Blackburn 2, Celtic 0: Yeats knows all about Blackburn's capabilities from his role as Liverpool's chief scout and the exiled Aberdonian expects Rovers to triumph.

He said: "Blackburn have been playing great football in the Premiership, we were fortunate to get a draw at Ewood earlier in the season and it will be difficult for Celtic to get a result.

"Blackburn have some excellent individual players. Damien Duff is very important and I feel Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole have a lot left in their lockers and will start to spark soon."

STEVE PATERSON - Blackburn 1, Celtic 2: The Caley Thistle manager knows what it takes to beat Celtic in a cup competition, but doesn't expect Rovers to succeed.

He said: "I predict Celtic will win 2-1 in Blackburn and go through 3-1 on aggregate. Blackburn probably missed their chance when they played so well but failed to score at Parkhead."

GORDON SMITH - Blackburn 1, Celtic 1: Television and radio analyst Smith is confident the Hoops will score at Ewood.

He said: "I think Blackburn are a fine footballing side and have players good enough to score, but so have Celtic. I predict a 1-1 draw on the night, with Celtic going through, courtesy of Larsson's first-leg goal at Parkhead."

Yeah that would be great. Think I'm going to put my money on Celtic, as I never win when betting. It usually works.

Looking forward to the 3rd round draw tomorrow, live on uefa.com - we've got to be in it  

Well this is the grand day. How's everyone feeling now?

Although I'll only be seeing the game in a pub in Oslo with a bunch of Celtic and Rovers fans, there will be plenty of nerves and tension! I dreamt about the game last night, and now it feels like we're going to lose to a defensive, counter attacking, stubborn Celtic... 0-1 and 0-2 on agg.

One guy turned to his mate and said "I wonder how much they (pointing to the Rovers fans) pay for their season tickets? Man, could you imagine being able to watch passing like that every week?"

Hey that's brilliant! Hope you don't mind me using it in my signature!

I think most of them did realise that they were well and truly outclassed, but it's not like they are going to come straight out and kiss our feet because of it. They still are rivalling fans and will still support their own team, no matter how much worse they are.

I thought the comments on here (the beginning of the thread) weren't smug at all, but then I don't read between the lines..

There are some really touchy people on this board right now. I guess it's down to some childish intruders but still, some are decent folks. Why not try to read what everyone actually has to say and not interpret everything as slagging off the rovers? I can't believe the attitude of some people here..

Only one thing is certain, that nothing is decided yet, and anything can happen. (Of course it'd better be in Rovers' favour!)