Tomasson said in his press conference last week that none of the absentees are close. Unfortunately the thin current group might need to be flogged for a fair few weeks.

With injuries, I dont think it is necessarily bad luck. We havent got a ridiculous injury crisis but 5 (Gallagher, Pears, Hedges, Ennis and Hyam, unless im missing someone) is more damaging to our small squad than it would be others. Plus we will be prone to more because a smaller squad has less scope for rotation. Plus 2 of the 5 are injury prone. Its a shame as our best side is very competitive, its just beyond that where we fall off. Looking at todays bench, the likes of Gamble and Duru made up the numbers and players like Markanday and Telalovic are not fancied.

If we had another goal threat our reliance on him would also decrease and it would cause other teams an additional headache. Definitely. He does miss big chances, he did today twice. Yet he put the third away and hes happy to keep putting himself in those positions. So not only does he have the ability to find those positions, he has the mental strength to keep trying.

Absolutely. I just cant see him stripping Travis of the captaincy though even if he remains a squad player. Its a big statement even if its because he isnt playing as much, and could cause unnecessary aggravation. Ultimately the vice captain then more often than not becomes the on field captain but youve still got the buy in of the captain.

Its been taken out of context and actually lead to my main point which was praise. I regularly used to defend Armstrong who ended with 28 goals yet seemed to face more criticism than praise due to being "greedy." He isnt the best finisher youll see even relative to this division, he is not the most clinical. He misses quite a few good chances. But the vast majority of our chances "fall" to him because his movement is really good, and his anticipation is good too. Often he is the sole threat we have because he makes things happen, very rarely does he not have at least one guilt edged chance in a game.

I dont think he will be stripped of the captaincy even in the unlikely scenario that Tomasson stays. And even if he isnt playing, although those chances of playing might increase if and when Wharton is sold. Its a bit of a statement to strip someone of the captaincy, he could still remain club captain when more often than not remaining a sub.

Absolutely, but I meant to the poster I was replying that I dont think Travis suits being the player that is the deepest of the midfielders. His natural game isnt to sit and tidy things up, to ask him to do that is somewhat stifling him. When he does play, he is usually the more advanced of the 2 because he is very useful at winning the ball back higher up, for example the goal we scored v Leicester. Earlier in the season, the midfield of Wharton and Travis didnt work. Wharton is very good on the ball in deep areas but at this stage isnt in a position to be the main man charged with protecting the defence. Wharton can still play deep next to Tronstad but its more secure with the latter in. I think Travis would suit being next to Tronstad but obviously we wouldnt want to drop Wharton for Travis.

I think Travis is just a different type of player. He might not be much of a goal threat but he can charge around and win the ball back in great areas, and he isnt as bad on the ball as people make out. Being the main sitter requires positional discipline which Tronstad has.

Hes the kind of player that most teams would like to have. Not flashy, but just tidies things up and provides some protection, discipline and a foil for others.

Very good win, not the best performance with a young side that was flagging towards the end but a 3 nil away win is always very welcome to extend our very impressive away record and it showed great spirit. It was never a 3 nil game with us very much sitting in occasionally countering at 1 nil with the goalkeeper mistake from a tame shot from Garrett leading to Moran getting a goal. The first goal showed the use of actually putting the ball in the box, the second was a very fortunate error from their keeper Our best player IMO was Tronstad, did that water carrier job superbly alongside Wharton who a couple of brilliant passes aside was sloppy. The 2 centre backs stood out too, Pickering baring 1 or 2 shaky moments was fine and Travis settled down although leaves too many gaps as a full back. Wahlstedt made one good save and otherwise even in the air wasnt ever tested with the defence staying resolute and Stoke lacking the quality. Moran I thought was quiet first half, he is a good useful addition but he can drift out of games and hasnt scored in the league until today which should hopefully boost his confidence. Our sole goal threat comes through Szmodics who to say is top scorer is not a particularly great finisher, he has had loads of shots and missed some sitters, he missed 2 good chances today. Armstrong used to take loads of shots but scored loads too and used to get pelters. The thing is, Szmodics makes things happen, his movement is really good and there is a reason he is always the one getting chances in the first place, he runs in behind and he is a constant nuisance. Dolan was poor and Brittain is not a natural attacker. Stoke were hopeless, with Vidigal strangely an unused sub and Gayle who is long past it and then Leris and Jun-Ho who dont really look up to it. The worry is the size of the squad. The team were shattered towards the end with Tomasson naturally reluctant to make subs with the likes of Markanday, Gamble and Duru just making up the numbers, Telalovic wouldnt have come on unless the game was won either. Its a real shame that Tomasson whilst not being perfect is clearly a very talented manager and the owners simply do not give enough of a shit to even slighty back him. He is doing really well with a young and threadbare squad.

I did think that regarding Hoever as Tomasson specifically mentioned him in his press conference, but the cost of that is Travis repeatedly being caught of position. Moran has not really done much IMO, had a great chance to slip Szmodics in but went for the easier ball to a well offside Brittain.

Been a poor quality game. Szmodics is the sole threat and should have 2 but Moran and Brittain have been ineffective as has Dolan who has given the ball away a few times due to his inability to hold it up. Hes not a striker though. Wharton is the one to unlock them, hes been a mixture of excellent passes and sloppiness. Defensively we have not looked particularly disciplined and the Travis sub made little sense to me. Stoke have some dangerous subs and we keep conceding late due to a lack of experience and quality to bring on. So youd think we will need a second.

Not scored enough goals! (Edited)

Wahlstedt Brittain Hill Carter Pickering Tronstad Wharton Sigurdsson Szmodics Moran Dolan Wouldnt want to chose Dolan up front and Sigurdsson is very lucky to start but little alternative. Telalovic is obviously well off it and Leonard isnt a Championship level striker. Ennis will never be fit and Gallagher according to Tomasson isnt close either. The bench will again be totally lacking in quality and with lots of games and no sign of the injured players we are going to feel it.

Credit to Tony Mowbray? You must not like Broughton if you are willing to credit him instead! Aside from Brittain maybe seeing as we reportedly bid for him during Mowbray's time, you cant possibly know that for a fact. But even so, Broughton brought them in so you cant withold any praise for him on those. Overall its a mixed bag and I am not totally convinced. I dont think the overall success rate of transfers has improved even since Mowbray's time specifically in terms of recruitment. But with this summer, like some of the summers under Mowbray (the idea that he had loads of money is not correct, more often than not summer spends were minimal) Broughton had his hands tied behind his back. The reason we are getting crocks and players from poor leagues is mainly because we have no money.

Its not terrible, its been mixed. Szmodics, Hyam and now Brittain all good. Tronstad looks solid. Sigurdsson could go either way. Loan market not used too well although Hill and to a lesser extent Moran look more promising. Wahlstedt not looking. But the blame lands at the owners in the main. Signing a striker for free and paltry wages is very difficult.

Absolutely nothing like the Szmodics deal. Szmodics played within days of signing, there werent huge question marks over his fitness. Ennis cant even seemingly manage half hour cameos and this current injury worry is his third despite never having started a game. No way is he on as little as 3-4k either considering he chose to come here when Plymouth wanted to keep him. Further budget cuts of such an amount will lead to relegation.

Everything ultimately does come to the owners slashing the budgets, you are going to struggle find a good Championship striker when you cant pay a fee. But assuming that you are right that we expected him to take a whole year to get fit, which is a hell of an assumption, that would be total indefensible madness. Even before the mid summer budget slashing, we started the summer knowing we were sell to buy, so even on the original budget, to give a 4 year deal to a player who they didnt expect to be fit for a year would be total madness. I doubt his wages are massive but equally enough to convince him to come here rather than renew. I suspect its more of a case of with no money on fees, weve taken a punt on a freebie who had done well in League 1 and have taken a big risk on assuming previous injury issues would stop. He struggled to complete 90 minutes last season too often but he did feature far more often than be has here. Either way, it is looking more and more like a waste of a decent chunk of a meagre budget. We also alledgedly opted for Telalovic over a La Liga forward on loan. Surely the loan whilst Ennis somehow became a beacon of fitness sitting on the bench would have made more sense over another project leaving us with only one senior striker who himself is injury prone in Gallagher.

What a waste of time.

Whilst Southgate is obviously a huge hindrance, its a massive stretch to suggest that we "should win the Euros no problem." We should be one of the favourites but France are the team to beat.

I was not believing anything, merely passing on an opinion.

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/23925900.perfect-ten-two-eights-blackburns-season-ratings/ We dont need anyone if these ratings are to be believed. You would think we were in the top 2.

Starts tonight v Portugal so has clearly shaken off the knock he got. Lets hope he comes through unscathed as even though hes been poor in recent weeks, we badly need him still.

Obviously we would, he can score goals and only one current player can. But no chance it happens.

More great news.