The weakness in Toshack's argument is: Wales squad to play Austria in World Cup Group Six qualifiers on 26 March in Cardiff and 30 March in Vienna: Coyne (Burnley), Jones (Wolves), Price (Ipswich), Delaney (Aston Villa), J Collins (Cardiff), D Collins (Sunderland), Page (Cardiff), Gabbidon (Cardiff), Edwards (Wolves), Partridge (Motherwell), Ricketts (Swansea), Roberts (Tranmere), Davies (Tottenham), Fletcher (West Ham), Williams (West Ham), Koumas (West Brom), Earnshaw (West Brom), Giggs (Man Utd), Robinson (Sunderland), Bellamy (Newcastle - on loan to Celtic), Hartson (Celtic). Wales Under-21 squad to play Austria in Uefa Championship Group Six qualifiers on 25 March in Merthyr Tydfil and on 29 March in Neuseidl Am See: Hennessey (Wolves), Worgan (Rushden), Anthony (Cardiff), A Davies (Yeovil), M.Jones (Wrexham), Cotterill (Bristol C), Beevers (Boston), Duffy (Portsmouth), Gilbert (Plymouth), Morgan (Wrexham), Nyatanga (Derby), Ledley (Cardiff), Pipe (Notts Co), Birchall (Arsenal), Caliste (Man Utd), Crofts (Gillingham), C.Davies (Oxford), Vaughan (Crewe). So after seven EPL players retired following his apointment, Tosh is left with three players currently holding first team places in the EPL and three youngsters with EPL clubs in the under 21s, none of which I think have started a game for their respective clubs. Promising youngsters he's got coming through.

The Guardian's match report this morning. Makes some good points about the youngsters coming through at Arsenal and our need for a Plan B.

Did you see the goal he scored against Norwich at home?? or Burnley home??? Point taken but as a wide player he only seems to me to beat a man when the defender is tight on him. There were several opportunities yesterday when MGP was running at a defender and he chose not to take him on.

Excellent preview from Singapore! At the start of the season, I felt that if we achieve nothing else, getting a win at Old Trafford for the first time in my life time would be the thing to do. In recent seasons we have laid our away bogeys to rest at Southampton, Leeds and Newcastle- just the Mancs to do now. We owe them big time for all the injustices we've suffered against that lot since '92 so let's get all the pay backs rolled into one. Man U 0 Rovers 6

Following West Brom's thrashing of Charlton we are way out on our own as the Prem's lowest scorers with 25 so the 9 from Dickov are invaluable. All this anti-Dickov stuff is to some extent accurate but downright unfair. Southampton's win today has brought the trap door two points closer and Soton and Palace at home are going to be almighty tussles next month. At least we can be reasonably assured of at least a 0-0 draw in the Sparky regime whereas Souey would loose at least one if not both of those games. The four points from our trips to Merseyside now look like gold dust. Back to yesterday, I suspect Hughes wants to have something different in his bag for the semi-final; Stead, Savage and a flu-less Todd would have made a huge difference yesterday and I suspect will have an effect even against an Arsenal team with their five stars restored to fitness come April 16. Wenger might be tempted to play some of his Cup team of kids against us seeing they did so well yesterday, particularly if we deny the Mancs of three points at OT and put second place back in the Gunners' hands. Thankfully we now have a two week break which will disrupt any momentum for Southampton and West Brom. Provided he doesn't go chasing lost causes for Scotland, Dickov has the chance for some groin rest which if I were Hughes I would prolong by putting him on the bench against the Mancs and giving Steady a go. In the meantime, let Walter Smith's lot get Gally back into shape- Scotland has to have some use to somebody!

Back to Earth time! That semi final doesn't look such a great adventure any more, does it? Random thoughts: 4 points against the 4th and 5th placed teams obscured the fact that 3rd place is different class. Van Persie was brilliant but Todd's illness allowed the space for him to excel in- there was an extremely cute turn in the build up to the goal as well. Has anyone seen MGP go past a defender? Only one attempt on target- MGP's spring and header in the first half. 10 off target. Bad day at the office from everybody up front then Emerton was in perfect body position to hit across as well as through the ball- the slightest fade would have taken it in. Why oh why did Reid miss at the end when he had a yard of empty net to hit? Matteo looked brilliant before he was injured (now there's a first) Our crossing and final third passing was bad (now I'm repeating myself) Flitcroft's pass success rate couldn't have been above 50%. Savage's return is as important to us as Henry's return will be for them (he said hopefully) First half fouls- Rovers 10, Arsenal 1. A problem with the refereeing methinks. Brad and Lucas kept the ball in play but it was a corner to the Arse- linesman crap at the Darwen End. At least two offsides called which weren't in H2- linesman crap at the Blackburn End.

I totally agree Paul. From the BBC: Mark Hughes and his Blackburn side have nicked Arsenal's lucky hotel ahead of their FA Cup semi-final clash. (Daily Mail)

Exactly. Don't think anyone knows the true extent of Matt's problems. I've had life threatening car smashes but never has it stopped me doing my job as well as I could before. I always knew there was a good reason for not driving through Oswaldtwistle (in addition to it being the wrong turning on the road to anywhere)

I have a gtut feeling that Brad is going to produce some breathtaking saves against the Gooners. He no longer has to organise a shambolic defence (not his strongpoint) as the Rovers defence has found an astonishing resilience so he can quietly revert to being shot stopper extraordinary.

You mean a screw loose metaphorically and physically? The Drog has probably hit the nail on the head. I know this is blind(ish) faith but I still believe Matty has got it in him to be great again.

Great point Lathund. There is a further twist in that when the club is unpopular for its tactics/disciplinary record, supporters of other clubs are less likely to pressurise boards and managers into buying your players. That was the secret to Wimbledon's relatively long stay at the top. No self-respecting manager of a """big" club dared buy Vinnie Jones. An ultra boring, robust 0-0 against Arsenal curdling the Saturday lunch time pints will do just fine.

The drog called this thread back to normal- and it is. This MB is not the same without CC.

Send for cuidado- he'll restore Gamst's dead balls.

On the official site, Lee grooby wrote that there was more chance of him getting a game this season than Matt Jansen. I suppose that is a variant to the usual Grooby voting option! I have always felt Matty would be with us at the start of next season despite the "cruel to be kind" brigade on here. If he were to move on, he needs to be in some sort of shop window- even if it is the reserves or loan to the dingles. That hasn't happened for Matty so which club is going to risk signing him? The gulf between his pre-accident contracted wage and the amounts even Championship players make means that it has probably made sense for Matty, the club and insurers to strike a deal both over the contract following the original accident and now he is away for three months. I wouldn't be surprised if Matty's sabatical is at no or little cost to the club but that it has bought him an extension into next season. I know I now see no Rovers games in the flesh but I have seen enough flashes of Matty to know he still has ability. He is our 4th leading scorer this season despite playing virtually no games and carrying a crippling injury whilst playing?

Are you sure ? Oliver Holt has worked for the Mirror for the past three years. I saw Oliver in the by-line. It's actually Oliver Kay.

Another great preview! Nailed on draw this one. Inevitably it will be seen as the warm up for the semi-final. Whether it is an entertaining or bore draw depends on which Arsenal turns up. I suspect a 1-1. Their attack to have one moment of sublime brilliance, their defence to have one moment of weakness that costs them even against our toothless attack. Crowd to be 18,000. Nothing in the last two televised games will attract the casual supporter to Ewood Park and away from the pub/TV on Saturday morning (even though I thought Everton a week last sunday was a cracking good match to watch). I presume Category A prices as well. Even the well-heeled Arsenal supporters will give this a miss as well.

An excellent point. I didn't see the game so I can only read that we were superbly organised defensively from front to back and a Liverpool side which has been getting into its stride recently were pulled up short at Anfield last night. Let's get ready for the onslaught of criticism and hatred for our boring and negative style of play although the following reports are not too hard on us: The Guardian Snore draw The Independent rightly recognises our achievement. This seems a fair report by the Telegraph Oliver Holt in The Times is also pretty fair to us I am beginning to feel very excited about Aaron Mokoena. It's taken a bit longer than Nelsen, but it seems that he too could be a world class gem. Sparky's big challenge is how can he play 4-4-2 with Mokoena in the side- a Savage and Mokoena midfield? Or perhaps we go the whole Chelsea and opt for a lone striker of real power and class. In that case, Bellamy, who is saying he wants to stay at Celtic, is not the option. A dumb thought, but perhaps this Rovers team with Shearer up front would be Premiership challengers although the Chelsea of 04/05 would easilly beat the Man U of 94/5 in terms of quality of title contenders. I'll get my tin hat.

Charlie Nicholas forecasts a draw Although I think we will struggle tonight, Nicholas is a breath of fresh air after that fool Marsh.

1966- 1976 was indeed a uniquely bleak time. We were relegated from Div 1 in the summer of 1966. At the end of 1970/1, Burnley and Blackpool got relegated from Div 1 and Rovers and Bolton got relegated from Div 2. Talk about a Lancastrian wipe out- even Bury got relegated from Div 3 to Div 4! If I remember correctly, Burnley were back in Div 1 when we came up as Div 3 champions in 1974/5 so it was 1976/7 when hostilities resumed. 1979/80 saw us back in Div 3 for one season and we have been back as top dog in N E Lancs ever since- as we have been in more than two thirds of all the seasons since the formation of the Football League in 1887/8.

What? Rovers worst team in the semi finals??? They didn't watch Sunderland v Millwall last season? Or some of the stinkers in the late '80s and early '90s? I'm with you in loving it, just loving it, if Rovers and Newcastle make it to the final jim. The only chance of a decent final rests with Newcastle beating the Mancs because of the "stuff the tactics" attitude of our erstwhile manager will make for some entertainment even if they are up against Sav and The Axe. Mancs v Arsenal would be a turgid bad tempered petty scrap. Bit off topic but definitely normal service resumed. Who are the dingles anyway?

If you had read through the posts you would have seen that Dickov is already reported as being out of Wednesday's game. Jansen is out injured for the remainder of the season as is Bothroyd. So perm one from Stead, Gallagher and Johnson.

Atty is offering CC a very soft target. We'll leave the dingles to chew him up and get on with life in the Premiership and the FA Cup semi final.

Some pointers: Rovers have played Arsenal five times before in the FA Cup. They lead 3-2. We played them on the way to winnin g the Cup in 1928. Four of the all time most successful FA Cup sides are in the semi-final. For Man U and Arsenal, most of those successe have come in the last thirty years or so. Rovers and Newcastle have to go back over 50 years. Been looking at the Arsenal web sites- they are reasonably confident but see us as the "dreaded" Blackburn Rovers. We have got a pretty good record against them in recent seasons.

Stan the Man on their debut.

I am with you on that one USA- mind we have to play Man U as well before the semi so there was a 67% chance of the opposition having first hand experience of The Axe before Cardiff. I cannot see us getting two results against Arsenal and rate our chances very low for the semi final.