41. Damien Johnson

My Yuki t-shirt arrived this morning and I'm pleased I bought it. The quality is excellent, it has a smooth feel and the sizing is spot on. Would recommend it to anybody who is thinking about purchasing one.

Their fans are definitely worried ahead of this one. Took a quick look at their forum and there's no bluster this time about 'beating the Plastics', no excited 'these lot are shit haha' posts, no ridiculing of any of our players. In the past they have been quick to call Scott Wharton, Travis, JRC, Dolan etc crap and allsorts, whilst being confident about winning the game. Not this time. There's actually very little mention of the game, which tells its own story. Yuki, Mak, Cantwell and Duberry are coming for them, and they know it. Just hope we really show up this time in front of a big away following. There have been too many times over the last 12 years where a big away support has been let down by a feeble display on the pitch. I think Eustace will have them ready and focused though, as we were at the wooden shed. He is showing a different type of mentality so far this season is Eustace, a winning one. I like that and long may it continue.

40. Yakubu

I think you're right. Ipswich at Ewood rings a bell. It was the game where Mowbray scored an injury time leveller for them!

I can only remember him scoring penalties for us. It felt like he scored 20+ that season. A rare non penalty goal here:

39. Rudy Gestede

I am interested in the blue Ohashi shirt. I like it. What size is that one in the photo, Herbie? Just as a general guide. Doesn't matter if you can't remember.

Something that hasn't been mentioned from the Gestede interview...at 5 minutes in he says that Toth was a Ben Benson recommendation. Benson looked at the data, was impressed with Toth's and told the recruitment team to look into it further in order to sign him. "He's a very good goalkeeper" according to Benson. The recruitment team then did their checks and agreed. Let's hope he is good, as the latter haven't got much wrong so far in terms of signings.

At no stage over the last few years would I have believed anybody telling me that Rovers would be signing Cantwell. To get him for as little as that is superb business. He seems determined to silence the noise about him too, which only benefits us. This could be another Bentley or Bellamy moment for us. Fair play to Rudy, Park and Eustace. They are streets ahead of, actually, no, they are in a different country to Broughton and his team, when it comes to finding a player. Duberry and Cantwell are going to bring us a spark in the final third and all done on a low budget too. £500k or whatever it was on Markanday, similar on Ennis, similar on O'Riordan? Fack sake, you must be joking. THIS is how it's done, Gregg.

Duberry could be a cracking signing. I saw a couple of Brighton pre season games (for fantasy football reasons) and he stood out. Quick, direct, tricky. We often see players labelled the 'next zidane', 'next Henry' etc and it's almost always hyperbole. The Saka comparisons are spot on with Duberry though. That's exactly who his style of play reminds me of. He's got to do the business of course, but this looks an exciting pick out from the recruitment team.

A shorter version too for you @riverholmes and anybody else:

Meanwhile, over in India, Pune residence hears the name 'Cantwell' for the first time: "Cantwell? Isn't that a cake in England? How many cakes is Steve wanting?" "No, that's a bakewell you're thinking of, Mrs Desai. Cantwell is a footballer according to Google". "Oh, ok. Tell Steve I'll get back to him on Saturday". They probably haven't got a clue who Cantwell is and whether he is any good or not and will be relying on somebody to sell it to them. If that somebody is shadow man or his car salesman buddy, then I think we can move on. Just get it done! A player of his quality doesn't become available for £500k very often. It's a no brainer. Lewis Baker was highly rated as a Chelsea youngster, but doesn't seem to have done a lot since. Not seen much of him at Stoke, so will have to wait and see what he looks like here. Tomorrow is going to be interesting to say the least. Can Park and Co pull out a couple of left field signings that nobody has mentioned?

I remember Cantwell looking like a special player in his Norwich days. He might not have the g/a that the kids these days look for, but the eye test suggests that there is a serious player there if he sorts things out upstairs. Most of the reservations about him appear to be around attitude, not ability. I think he has it in him to be a Dunny type player for us. As Eustace was the one who first mentioned wanting pacey wingers, let's hope it is a case of Cantwell and a winger they are looking to bring in, rather than just the former.

There's too much of this "ah well, it's only the League Cup" sentiment among football fans these days. I'm not referring to anybody here, but fans in general and it is something that I can never understand. The aim of the game is to win and this is one of three domestic trophies on offer. How many fans around the country are looking down on the League Cup and coming out with "but, but but Man City?" If that's the attitude and thought process, why bother playing in the competition? Just hand it to Pep now and cut out the fixture pile up. The prize money shouldn't matter to us fans, we just want Rovers to win. Simple as. Now, I'm not saying our expectation is to win this trophy, but the mindset has to be, imo, that we are in it to win it, to go as far as possible. There has to be somebody at the club thinking 'I want us to go all the way in this competition', even if the likelihood is that we would meet a big gun at some point. Our League campaigns have generally been dull for the most part under these owners and cup runs bring a bit of excitement, especially when we are up against Premier League sides. I would start with a strong side and hope to get the job done before making changes in the last 20/25 minutes. I think Blackpool could be in for a pasting tonight. It has got that feel about it, but let's see. I'm going 4-0 Rovers with a brace from Mak.