Worth remembering that the Venky's have been really difficult for the bidding clubs to deal with when bids have been received for players they didn't want to part with.

The key is having a forward threat that overwhelms the opposition defence with problems. Ben no undoubtedly adds to their headaches and having two players who can run through you with the ball in Brererton and Rothwell allied to the creative passing of Holtby and Elliott is going to continue tearing oppositions apart. Having those four on the pitch together with Dack and Arma is a salivating proposition. Quite how you do get all six on at the same time I don't know but Ben has added defensive maturity this season so it might not be kamikazi football to try it. We could be seeing Ben taking on an Elliott style rotation including midfield duties but then where does Travis fit? If we get Rothwell Holtby and Ben to up their accuracy in strikes on goal then some unfortunate club could get hit for double figures this season.

Jury out on this season and that is all that really matters. 1) I am not looking at any game thinking Mowbray cost us so far this season. Equally I am not looking at any points gained because of managerial wizardry. 2) if he keeps it that way, then it is a function of the squad being good enough to get us up. I certainly think it is at least good enough to be in contention and that is down to a superb summer window so thumbs up Tony for that 3) we have had at least eight players unavailable every game so far this season. We are still in contention so that is creditable. You can't judge Mowbray adversely on our current table position BUT 4) Starting at Luton Mowbray will have the majority of his massive squad available. How he sets them up in a winning system, selects his 18, his 11 and uses his 3 subs is all about Mowbray. There is no hiding place. Every game hereon in has Mowbray totally exposed as the Manager.

We almost at the point of taking him for granted but Elliott was very very good again.

What a relief getting three points! We were always the better side but delighted/relieved we weathered the storm they generated middle of the second half and scored two lovely goals to secure the win. Rothwell and Brereton were the players with the eye catching performances. Great to see Armstrong fully mobile. Nyambe was very good apart from one horrible loss of possession which lead to the corner which lead to the penalty which lead to the goal. Nobody had a bad game and Kaminski clearly commands the back in a way Pears can only dream of. Lost count but even with Rothwell, Kaminski, Johnson, Trybull and Grayson back I think we still had eleven players unavailable with Evans the latest casualty addition after two minutes. Hugely happy with the international break for once. I think could be down to only Dack, Travis, Bennett and Butterworth being out by the time we go to Luton which will feel like our season starting all over again. 8 points off top 7 points off 2nd 5 points off 6th The damage of the recent weeks could have been far greater than it has turned out to be.

We have the beating of QPR but when we are in advanced positions the movement by players off the ball stops instead of speeding up the way you see Prem League teams play. We don't hurt teams by pushing on when in possession well inside the final third which means we are playing in front of defenders instead of behind them. At the very least there is a sending off to be had if we gamble a bit more. Has the feeling of Dieng having a man of the match performance. We are not being clinical again.

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