Wallsall to win at Bolton. Luton to give a good account of themselves at Hillsborough. Bristol City to beat Huddersfield. Portsmouth to win at Norwich. Dingles will have to be careful with Barnsley and Everton cannot be too gungho picking a side to play Lincoln but those might be half time shocks but not at full time. If I were Karanka, I'd have a full strength side out at Stamford Bridge- Chelsea are vulnerable. However, I expect Forest will also be fielding a weakened side which is why Chelsea v Forest is not my tip for an upset.

So iFollow very helpfully is showing: Next match 05 Jan 2019 17:30 (UK) Newcastle United v Blackburn Rovers There is not a match pass available for this match. €6.00 Pricing and availability may vary

Woken up and feeling stupidly optimistic about this one. Having said that, we will probably see a Premier League/Championship gulf and Rovers lose 5-0, four of the goals in the last 20 minutes... Dingles and Southampton picking up away points put Newcastle right back in relegation trouble so might have an effect on Benitez's selection. Do they have any youngsters of talent itching to show they should be first choices?- if so beware. On the basis I'd like to see younger players measured against Premier League opposition, I will break my embargo and pick the team: Raya Nyambe Lenihan Mulgrew Bell (assuming all are fit and don't have a day flu) Evans Reed Travis Rothwell Dack (Evans holding, Dack pushing on) Brereton In old days I would have been anticipating this one from the moment of the draw. Now it is an interruption to the main business but have a cup tie tingle this morning. Be safe everyone who is going.

Not had the pleasure of meeting him in person other than a couple of phone calls but he has been consistently fair about Rovers. I bet his file of not published because spiked/legally embargoed would open some eyes...

Pulis simply said no just as Charlton said no on Bauer. In the event both players spent most of the half season just gone injured. I would look to a loan for Chapman.

Very much hope it does rise to £7m.

Loan to buy on Reed- no complaints from me.

My bet is Evans will be dropped to make way for Smallwood.

She'd terrify them.

Having watched the dingles last night, they badly need a Bradley Dack.

I am hoping for a centre half and one or two exciting loanees. Chapman would be a sensible loan if we can get him. He is the only name within reach I can think of who would boost attendances.

Bauer out of contract in the summer.

Echo putting a strong team out for this but with a bias to youth to see how they go against Prem opposition. Will Nyambe be ready?

We are at the point where we should bring in players who make the whole team better and are viable Premier League quality. Therefore less is more in terms of quantity but the quality has to be right.

I am going to be a stuck record on this one. Many of you are buying half a team- sorry not going to happen even with limitless funds. This is the January window- if you haven't noticed it is cold outside, even in Malta. The performance against the Baggies yesterday again showed we are decent competitive Championship outfit so wholesale changes are not needed this window. BUT We do need a commanding leader at centre half. Allow Mowbray to go 3-5-2 AND have somebody who tells Lenihan, Nyambe and Bell what to do- I bet those three would blossom playing alongside the sort of centre halves we have had in the past. This is not criticism of Mulgrew- he seems to be a lovely guy but not a leader.

Seems nobody wants to go up this season. West Brom would have gone second had they won at Ewood yesterday. An indication of how poor/competitive the promotion race is this season. I suspect Norwich have exhausted their luck and are now going to find it very hard work. Shame about our last 20 minuteses or we would be in with a very realistic chance of going up.

Great to wake up with a big smile on my face.

Oh dear. Nyambe likely to attract bids of around £5m from Everton and Brighton. Credible sources. I had better stress this came from the Nicko transfer generator before people rush off down the bookies/ to commit suicide/ start the Transit van...

Brilliant preview! Newcastle play revived Ole's Mancs tomorrow evening so Rovers have more recovery time than them. We will lose but we certainly have a chance of at least a draw up there. We will go down 3-1 but not before causing a few Geordie collywobbles.

Signal repeatedly freezing at the end of both halves. As if it wasn't nerve wracking enough during 6 minutes of injury time.

Sensational performance again today. Has two more games now to lock down his place.

Travis a star

Isn't that the third direct from a corner.

All I can say with certainty is we have 10 playing out field. Probably Mowbray's favoured 4 - 3.5 - 2.5

As things stand, we are 16th 10 points off 6th and 10 points above 22nd. If West Brom win, they are currently going 2nd.