If Tosin is still out for Sunday and Nyambe is injured we are down to Williams and Lenihan as centre halves. A training ground injury to either of them would be catastrophic.

I was pissed off with the performance and result today but what got me more angry was Mowbrays annoying trait of putting his hands on his head (or spreading his arms apart) on lots of occasions when HIS players made mistakes. It looks pathetic. In the game we were only worth a point as we were on Monday. Today was two bang average Championship teams with plenty of endeavour but hugely lacking in quality. With the news that Dack is out for the season Mowbray really needs to pull some rabbits out of hats if we are to be anywhere near the top ten. As with Monday our passing today was poor in the extreme with so many careless passes from nearly every player. Mowbray mentioned the unbeaten run we are on but we would have been better losing one and winning one of the last two.

Don't rise to the bait Chaddy.

I wonder if Dack's agent turned down the new contract that Mowbray mentions in this interview from the end of November. https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/18070592.latest-rovers-contract-talks-star-man-bradley-dack/

And there is the rub. Some are saying we won well at Bristol City without him but being without him forced Mowbray to change the shape completely. On Monday when Dack was available again he reverted to type. For me replacing his goals is going to be one of Mowbrays biggest challenges.

A happy and peaceful Christmas to Rovers fans everywhere especially the ones who keep this site running and allow us all to discuss the one thing we all have in common.

Having seen several bad injuries on the pitches up and down the country Andy my rule of thumb was if they are screaming it wasn't that serious but if a player was lying prostrate and in silence the chances were it was more serious. I once asked a club doctor about this and he said when a serious injury occurs your bodies defence mechanisms kick and and the shock can mask the pain. It's far from an exact science but it helped me when dealing with injuries.

Too true. Some are using the win at Bristol City and saying we won and played well without him but over an extended period his absence will have huge impact He is probably our most important player in my view.

I agree but would extend the criticisms about poor passing to the whole team. Simple passes were often misplaced, over or under hit or the wrong weight. And that is almost the polar opposite of how well we passed it at Bristol. To offer a slight defence I thought the pitch was too dry but that is is no way excusing the overall quality which was poor.

His absence again highlighted the need for another centre half. For me it's still the number one priority in January.

I honestly don't know how anybody can speculate how long Dack will be out unless they have seen the scans. Knee injuries can be hard to diagnose and the only definitive diagnosis is through a scan. This should happen over the next couple of days providing there is not too much swelling.

The tempo we had at Bristol just wasn't there as our slow play allowed Wigan to keep their defensive shape as we were far too predictable. This changed when Holtby came on and his fast feet and movement allowed him to find space which was previously elusive. I have to say that the pitch didn't help our cause as it looked bone dry and didn't allow for any of the really slick passing like we have recently seen. As I predicted the referee was as weak as piss and just wasn't aware of Wigans obvious tactic of slowing the game down at every opportunity. This certainly didn't help us as the game was so fragmented. I'm starting to think that we just can't play against teams who come to Ewood and play in such a way. This is evidenced by our poor results against bottom six teams at home. Mowbray has to address this and find a way to be such teams. All in all hugely disappointing with far too many players just not performing.

Methinks there is an element of over confidence in some quarters. I really hope we batter them but I'm expecting a fractious game with them coming to spoil. I'll take a win in any way possible.

I can think of a few who played professionally who played for Blackburn schoolboys. James Beattie, Chris Holland, Mark Brennan, Mike Duxbury and maybe Chris Porter. All of them are from different age groups. Can anybody think of any more

Another great player (and person by all accounts) passing away. He was so graceful and he seemed to glide around the pitch.I RIP.

Impressive. Having seen that I now understand Damien Johnson's role and the reason for his promotion. I will definitely not think of Mowbray as a dinosaur again ?.

I have to agree with you Nick. It was a great day to be a Rovers fan over there on that day. I was in the Bee Hole with lots of other Rovers fans as we blew the Dingles away.

Cardiff against Preston was easily the worst game I have seen this season. Nobbers shaded it but the football was extremely poor.

Dack simply has to start. Why anybody would consider leaving out our best player and top scorer is incomprehensible. We have to win in any way possible as I think Wigan will try and kill the game at every opportunity. The game will need a strong referee and when I looked to see who it was I saw one who I consider to be one of the weakest. It will be at least the third time this season we have had Gavin Ward and on each previous occasion he was weak.

Wasn't it Shebby Singh who, through a Portuguese agent who he knew signed all of them? I have a vague recollection that the agent was the son of a guy who was connected to the Malaysian national team for who Singh had a gazillion caps. https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/blackburns-portuguese-players-fuming-after-1835598 Irrespective of who it was the level of corruption around that time was staggering.

You are absolutely right about the objective of promotion and from what I have seen nobody is disagreeing with that. I really don't buy the injury story. Had we needed a result at Charlton I don't for one minute believe that the team would have changed much from the Doncaster game. I too enjoyed revisiting some of those grounds but after all the effort and cost to go to them I felt it was a little disingenuous of Mowbray not to push on for the title.

Yes Leonard there were some sorry sights that day. I honestly don't know how some can enjoy a football match in such a state.

Your last sentence sums it up for me Leonard. The barren years our generation suffered in the years preceding the title win in 1975 were pretty much banished as the youngsters lead the team out each with individual letters spelling out CHAMPIONS on that Monday night against Wrexham. I think it must be a generational thing with fans not being bothered about winning the title and settling for runners up. Surely there would have also been a commercial benefit through merchandise bearing the words Champions. Before anybody comes back I know promotion was the aim and it was achieved but the cherry on the cake would have been getting presented with the League One champions trophy after the Oxford match in front of a packed Ewood.

After the buoyancy of recent weeks that interview has perturbed me a little. I fear we are falling into the same trap as last January and to a lesser degree the Summer window which were both preceded by good form and results. I think that has clouded Mowbrays judgement and if we don't strengthen we could only be one injury away from another capitulation. One of the biggest mistakes of the last twenty five years was not buying after the Premier League win. I remember the words of Alan Hansen who said 'you buy when you are strong' In my opinion Mowbray would do well to heed them words. All this integration nonsense comes across as a touch arrogant to me.

In that particular incident Gallagher was wiped out by one of their centre halves and the referee chose to play advantage. Ordinarily I applaud that but Brereton was on his own with four Bristol players. Once the advantage didn't accrue the referee should have gone back and given the free kick for the challenge on Gallagher and cautioned the perpetrator. He did neither. Later in the game he brought play back for Bristol in similar circumstances. On his general display I thought he should have cautioned five Bristol players but knows if one. Lenihan was punished a few times for challenges when I felt is was two big blokes competing fairly for headers. He allowed their manager to throw a ball at one of our substitutes after he yellow carded him for an earlier infringement. I thought it was the worst refereeing performance we have seen this season.