Evans hamstring?

OK with Evans trying to regain his international place on our dime but the ball is not going to flow through the middle of the park in our favour today is it?:

Is Louis Annesley injured or is our friend from Gibraltar about to see him on the bench v QPR this afternoon?

I expect this will be much more entertaining than recent games. I think we will need some good fortune to get the win. My ITK of team selection tactics and subs can be exclusively revealed now:

Vale is back! Presumable Sam Burn is on the bench. @richsharpe89 Stewart Downing on the bench as #Rovers U23s look to extend their unbeaten start to the season against Arsenal. Jack Vale also back after injury. Team: Stergiakis, Pike, Barnes, Saadi, Thompson, Lyons, Whitehall, Paton, Brennan, McBride, Vale #Rovers lining up in a 4-3-3, with Vale as the centre forward, Brennan on the right and McBride the left.

Subs: Bell, Grayson, Vale, Butterworth

145

I have never looked forward to an international break so much. Is it 8 or 9 players who won't be available Saturday should come back into contention for the Luton game? That should just leave Travis and Dack amongst the players who would get into our strongest eleven out but with the prospect of both back by the New Year. Even without those players, most of our performances so far this season should be good enough to scrap our way to three points against QPR. If we don't, anyone starting a relegation thread would be justified.

Ref looked like he was terrified of Warnock. Awful from him. We got the point to stop the run of defeats against top sides. Pears did well.

On iFollow

Ridiculous booking of Trybull who otherwise he has been pretty decent.

Boro looking as complete and well-drilled a team as I have seen in the Championship this season. Defensively we have been much more capable of getting to the opposition players receiving the ball. Need to make it stick a bit more when we are going forward. We have scarcely beaten a player one on one since they have managed to isolate Brereton. We have had three shots and killed three pigeons on the Darwen End roof. Need more composure lads!

Adam Armstrong in the commentary box.

Chrome freezing on me so switched to Safari

Better than I expected. Should be entertaining...

I give him the benefit of the doubt in that the opposition is the intended audience... But I agree. Armstrong should have been subbed after 10 minutes. It shows how little faith Mowbray has in his £5m forward signing.

Enormously grateful for the distraction from the US Presidential Elections.

He can play left back and the two we have are quarantined.

Great to have Downing back

I'd take either Davenport or Buckley for Evans or even push JRC forward and bring in Pike from the u-23s

Looks like we will have 12 unavailable for this one including the Covid quarantiners. Would just be grateful for us not making this 6 defeats out of 6 against probable top half teams. Best we can hope for is a draw. If Arma is out, replace him like for like with Gallagher and give the big lad a chance in his natural position. Otherwise, unless we are drafting in more under 23s it has to be same again as at Swansea.

In the games I have seen Lewis Thompson has looked the real deal BUT There is a world of difference between playing under 23s and the Championship even if what was substantially Liverpool under 18s embarrassed Everton's first team in their FA Cup run last season...

Forgot about Bell. That's eleven out. Kaminski Bennett Ayala Johnson Bell Vale Travis Douglas Dack Butterworth Rothwell OK some Mowbray-esque out of position options you may disagree with but the Rovers "crocks when they get fit" XI would give the Rovers "team that played at Swansea" XI one heck of a good game.

Four key takeaways from the Reading and Swansea games. 1) At the sharp ends of the pitch, we haven't defended or taken chances clinically enough. Our opponents have. Ergo two defeats. 2) We have competed and been a threat in both matches which has shown the effectiveness of having such a deep squad. However it is a conceit to think we can push for promotion with ten players unavailable. We have now averaged eight unavailabilities in every game so far this season. 3) At full strength. everyone of Kaminski Douglas Ayala Johnson Travis Rothwell Dack would get game time in the 14 players used by Rovers. The players we did put out competed and on another day might win. With those seven players listed above playing, we win BUT 4) Mowbray- would he use the players to their full ability? Would he select an 18 and exclude Evans and Gallagher as he should if we were at full strength? Of the 14 used yesterday, would he select the correct four to start with the seven above and the right three to be used as subs? I will just add one more caveat, I am all for giving players a chance but psychologically it is not working. We have recently seen Nyambe (yesterday), Buckley, Brennan, Davenport, even Dolan, getting game time but I don't know what others think- they have all looked to me to be nervous as hell and low on confidence. None of them have given us what they are capable of in their cameo appearances. Add in Lenihan not being right this season and something is not clicking mind-wise with too many players.

Connery saying it was ok to hit women and he did it was totally unacceptable. But he was THE James Bond. Phrases have passed into the English language in his voice.