We asked our fans’ jury what had impressed them most about Rovers’ three consecutive wins.

Being able to look up the table rather than looking down with trepidation. There’s still a long way to go but at least we seem to be having our fair share of luck at last.

Importantly with the recent changes to team selection and tactics we look to be more of a team and less of a disjointed rabble.

Hopefully we are beginning to find the right formula by maximising players’ strengths rather than trying to fit square pegs into round holes.

There may be light at the end of the Ewood tunnel but don’t risk your shirt just yet.

Paul Yates

 

 

I know it sounds obvious but the most pleasing aspect has to be the nine points. If I’m honest, I don’t feel like we’ve played particularly well. We were dominated in possession at home to Barnsley and Brentford and were outnumbered for shots in all three of our victories. I’m not complaining though, we’ve played better yet come away with nothing.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to see Dack scoring consistently. It’s good to see our subs having an impact and Gallagher getting on the scoresheet. It’s great that our defence is looking more resolute. It’s also encouraging to see Nyambe playing with greater self-belief and maturity. Hopefully these wins will now take the pressure off and enable us to control games and show the flair and excitement this crop of players promise.

Kelvin Wilkins

 

 

There’s more than one way to win a football match, and our ability to do that in three separate ways has been the most pleasing aspect for me.

In truth I wasn’t happy about the Barnsley performance at all.

We won when we played poorly though and that’s often the mark of a good side.

Brentford was chalk and cheese from that, for me it was the performance and result of the season. It wasn’t as exciting as the victory against Sheffield Wednesday, but the work ethic on display was marvellous to see. As fans that is the least we ask for.

Stoke was different again. One mistake aside, Rovers defended admirably and there’s an argument to be had that we deserved the clean sheet.

To be able to strike back after that mistake though was brilliant. A fine move, only eclipsed this season by Dack’s goal against Brentford.

The pressure was starting to mount, even after the victory against Barnsley. One week later though we sit four points outside the play-offs, a point better off than at the same time last season and things don’t look so bad. Play-off talk is of course premature, I’m not getting ahead of myself, a week is a long time in football though I feel much better now.

Tom Schofield

 

 

Consistency. It is a word I have used frequently in the negative for many years now. Even when we relatively cruised to promotion in League One, it was sometimes still hard to tell which team would turn up.

Considerably more so in the Championship, our inconsistency in work rate, effectiveness in front of goal and yes, team selection, have all kept fans on edge and not necessarily turning up expecting to see their team put in a winning performance.

Even the start of this run saw us take away the three points, but for some the nature of the performance felt like a defeat. It spoke volumes that Tony Mowbray felt the need to comment on the anxiety from the stands after a victory.

But nevertheless it was the catalyst we needed to propel us in to two games with an unchanged starting eleven which appear to have developed a new understanding in a short amount of time – in no small part I daresay thanks to the inclusion of Ryan Nyambe, who has struck up a partnership with our most hot-and-cold player in Adam Armstrong down our often unbalanced right.

Corry Evans – who I have been particularly critical of – is showing us why he is a regular international player, and the surprise workhorse Stewart Downing has brought more out of Joe Rothwell while Danny Graham allows Bradley Dack to do what Dack does best. Captain Bennett may have been sacrificed from the starting line-up but, as proved on Saturday, he still has an important role to play.

If they can by-and-large keep their places and continue developing their newfound chemistry, I don’t see why they can’t give any team in this division a game – and then who knows what might happen...

Cameron Disley

 

 

For me, the most pleasing aspect of Rovers’ last three wins is probably the change in philosophy.

We’ve stopped worrying too much about the opposition, their shape and their line-up and focused on our own. To play the same way against possession based Brentford as we did at ‘lump it into Sam Vokes’ Stoke City, and pick up wins in both games, is a marvel.

Mowbray seems to have finally concluded that a settled, styled Rovers starting 11, that relies more on its own attributes, rather than dealing with the attributes of other teams, is the best way forward.

One major delight from the last week has been the emergence of a new dominant force in the Rovers back line. Following in the footsteps of Harrison Reed, Tosin Adarabioyo has positioned himself to become the next big loan player to break Blackburn fans’ hearts when he eventually heads back to the Etihad.

But for now, whilst we still have him, Rovers are in a position to begin to dominate games. Worrying less about defensive mishaps and perhaps, maybe, expect more clean sheets going forward, Rovers attacking players can play with much more freedom.

Joe Harvey

 

 

In a peculiar kind of way going on to win two out of the three games after conceding a late equalising goal was a pleasing aspect as we showed a new steel and belief about how the Rovers are currently playing.

Up until very recently the norm would have been to grimly hang on for a point or to concede another and subsequently lose, but not anymore it seems. Since his unfortunate injury on his recent international activity, I thought like a lot of fans Derrick Williams was a certain starter at centre back but now with Lenihan returning and linking up ever so well with  Adarabioyo, his only route back in the XI will be at left back.

The final pleasing aspect of the three wins was the deserved clean sheet against a very good and technical Brentford side who showed their attacking prowess by scoring seven times on Saturday.

Onwards and upwards to the visit of the Rams on Saturday.

Andrew Robinson

 

 

Personally, it's the fact that we seem to have a good centre-midfield partnership for the coming weeks.

We've seen Tony try out several midfielder partnerships with the likes of Downing, Holtby and Johnson all being used there, but in Evans and Travis, we seem to have found the perfect formula. The duo complements each other well, as Evans is prepared to sit back and do the defensive work when need be, allowing Travis to push forward and help Rovers move up the pitch.

The perfect example was on Saturday at Stoke. Travis’ will to attack was backed up by Evans’ defensive work, with the Northern Irish midfielder making 10 interceptions and four clearances.

At times this season, we’ve either had a midfield pairing that sit too far back and don’t help us progress, or they’ve left us too exposed at the back. Often, all the defensive work has been on the shoulders of Travis, so it’s been good for some of that pressure to be taken off the youngster, and to allow to show attacking ability also.

Certain matches might be better for other midfielders, but this midfield duo is the best way for Rovers to move forward currently in my eyes.

Rovers Chat

 

 

Late winners, that Brentford goal, Nyambe’s form, there’s so many positives to choose from (and I haven’t even mentioned Bradley Dack).

One, however, deserves a higher praise, reserved for Joe Rothwell. “Impact sub” would probably sum up his time at Rovers so far, after almost 18 months at Ewood I too wondered whether he would ever fulfil his promise. We saw flashes of his undoubted talent last season with his effortless ability to beat a man and bursting runs forward, but I often felt he flattered to deceive.

Yet with seven straight starts to finish last season and goals against Forest and Derby to match I was beginning to get excited about Rothwell’s role in the team. My only consideration, therefore, come August was where not if Mowbray would play him.

With a third of the season gone, however, and no standout performer in his position Rothwell was still being used sparingly. Enter Barnsley and Brentford (where he was even better!).

He was outstanding in both games, with and without the ball, and was fully deserving of the bow Bennett offered him post-match.

Whether this is a turning point or not he has shown us he is some player.   

Mike Whewell

 

 

In a word, consistency. For a while now we have been asking for a consistent team selection, to play our best players in the correct positions, and over the last three games we have started to do this. It’s no surprise that naming an unchanged team has allowed the players to gel on the pitch. 

Suddenly our defence of Nyambe,Lenihan, Adarabioyo and Downing looks much more assured, we’re winning headers and retaining the ball. The fact that we have pace in the back four also allows us to go and press teams higher up the pitch without having to worry about being caught out in behind. 

Dack looks back to his old self now that Danny Graham has been restored to the team, and with Travis and Evans providing protection to the back four, it has allowed us to utilise the pace of Rothwell and Armstrong to good effect to get in behind teams and ask questions of them. 

It’s also good to see the togetherness of the team, the players celebrating with each other at Full Time, Graham heading straight for Gallagher after the match at Stoke. We’ve always had team spirit, and this week we’ve had the results to match it. 

Stu Smith