One of the many things about modern football I detest: ‘the celebration police’. Their job seemingly is to decide the importance/impressiveness/meaning of a result and the level at which that can be ‘celebrated’ for a team which isn’t their own. How about letting the fans of that team decide that?

Those in the away end at Turf Moor will likely have spent thousands following Rovers up and down the country, committed to a season ticket, and jumped through every other hoop placed in their way to prove their credentials to get their hands on the most in-demand of tickets.

So if they want to salute the efforts of their team who valiantly battled to a well-earned draw during a match where it felt everything was against them, that it what they should do.

They, and equally those following via whichever means they could, have too been put through the wringer by this maddeningly beautiful football club to an extent whereby their local rivals have been able to overtake them in the footballing pyramid.

So if they also want to heap praise on a group of players who showed both elements of what the club motto stands for, that too is their prerogative.

No-one is ‘celebrating a draw’. They are savouring the moment of seeing their side battle against adversity, showing the sense of pride to play for the club which any fan would want, against their fiercest rivals. Maybe not with the same gusto, but such scenes would have been replicated at any other of the other 22 away grounds Rovers will visit this season if the circumstances were replicated.

Any other arguments are as pointless as James Trafford’s efforts to save Andi Weimann’s screamer.

For those of a claret and blue persuasion who have seemingly taken it upon themselves to critique the ‘celebrations’, then I would suggest looking at the situation a little closer to home, as Rovers supporters know all too well how about ownership decisions with Premier League riches, and the consequences once those fizzle out.

Anyway, ranting over.

Yes, Rovers’ wait for a win over the Clarets goes on, but a run of six successive defeats without a goal is over, and this felt a huge stride forwards. There were several times Rovers could, and many times I have seen they have, gone under. Whether it be after trailing to Lyle Foster’s early goal, the feeling of injustice after Tyrhys Dolan’s disallowed goal, the continued 50–50 calls going the way of the opposition, and then ultimately going down to 10 men. But this was a Rovers side not to be denied. They have now trailed in each of their last three league games, but have recovered to take five points.

Owen Beck, on debut, overcame a shaky start to put an impressive, composed, debut at left back, and stuck to his task diligently throughout. The red card denied Rovers the chance to truly push on for a winner, but in Lewis Baker’s strike and Lewis Travis’ late effort (I had visions of his goal away to Swansea in August 2022 running through my mind), were openings as good as I can remember the hosts producing in the 40 minutes after Gueye’s red card (I was going to say man advantage, but restricting that to such a timeframe would be disingenuous).

I had concern about the potential of a red card for Gueye from quite early on, and not just because he had previous (two last season and three in his career). A swinging elbow in an aerial challenge was top of my prediction list, but instead he was dismissed for two of the most meekly awarded yellow cards you can receive. By the letter of the law, as we saw with Fred Onyedinma at Rotherham United at a similar stage last season, the referee was left with little choice for the second.

Were Gueye to have been sent off for aggressive intent, rather than sarcasm, I could probably have forgiven it as a moment of madness. We have probably all wished during his five year stay that Sam Gallagher had the ability to switch his nice-guy persona to a nastier streak on the pitch. Gueye seems of a different mindset, and no doubt he too is a cheerful, happy-go-like type, but put him into the heat of the battle, and you get a different animal. I’ve seen little to suggest he’s a 15-goal a season man, but plenty to suggest he’ll be at the very least a handful and cornerstone of the side moving forward.

As written previously, the end of August was always going to be a mood-shaper for the fanbase. It saw the end of one of the more bizarre transfer windows in recent times, which saw 10 incomings across two five-signings bursts. In some parts there was adulation for the recruitment team, even shouts of top six hopes, when Rovers’ business was complete.

Maybe the drinks had already started being poured ahead of derby day, and who am I to play down anyone’s hopes and dreams, but they aren’t ones I shared, even if I do believe that this is the first time in a while a Rovers manager can say the club has delivered (as best we could possibly have hoped?) for them. Most of the gaps are now plugged, a mix of ready-made, experienced Championship players at the behest of the manager, some lower-fee investment signings that fit the club model, and some promising Premier League loans.

What the window has done, aided by the start to the season of both the team and some of those signings, is abated any fears of being dragged into the same trouble Rovers found themselves in last season. This side does seem to have a bit about them, and it resonates with supporters.

I feel it plays into a stereotype, and underplays the footballing knowledge and understanding of the support base, to suggest it’s only an up and at ’em approach which does so.

It would also be unfair to pigeon-hole this side as only that, as they’ve shown there can be more to their game than that, but it was the right approach for that particular game, and on the most intense of stages, they more than stood up to be counted for.

So celebrate away.