‘Both of these games are rock solid’

Since we last spoke, Rovers’ fading playoff hopes haven’t been rekindled in some sort of Lazarus-style comeback. However, on two consecutive Saturdays, the boys have gone toe-to-toe with the very best this division has to offer.

Blackburn Rovers, last weeks’ visitors to the Estadio Memoriale, will surely be mixing it with the bigger boys back in the Championship next season. Charlton Athletic, who came to town the week before, are nestled in the top six.

In both games, we were good value for a point. Having gone ahead via a neat Kyle Bennett finish emanating from a dodgy back pass, Rovers were ever-so-slightly unlucky to go into the break with the scores level. After the restart, both sides had a good old go, and Sam Slocombe’s excellent run of form between the sticks continued with a couple of really good stops, and a point each seemed a fair result.

The ex-Blackpool man continued that run with another impressive stop early on against Blackburn. Again, we matched the former Premier League champions, at least. Tom Lockyer had newly crowned League One Player of the Year Bradley Dack under control in a game of relatively few clear cut chances.

One iffy penalty later, we looked defeat in the face, which wouldn’t have been too shameful given the visitors’ quality and our burgeoning injury crisis. Chris Lines clearly thought otherwise, scoring an absolutely delicious volley from the edge of the box with seconds of injury time remaining.

Three clear themes emerge from the last fortnight. Firstly, how close we are to getting things right in this division. With all the players we have out, to give those teams the test we did shows that with the right three or four players in, and the manager hopefully not poached away, we’ve got a real shot at the top six in year’s time.

Secondly, the development squad. Two more debutants, Mo Baghdadi and Michael Kelly, made their senior bows in these games. We may not be the first club ever to scour far and wide for those lads that have slipped through the gaps of the professional game, but it’s looking like it might pay off. None of the guys brought in have looked out of place.

Finally, there’s this narrative of the Lines redemption. As you know, the veteran midfielder made a mistake away at Fleetwood, a mistake that might have cost us two points. And obviously it’s great for him to right that wrong with his late equaliser last week, but in reality he doesn’t need to redeem himself with his manager, teammates or with most of us fans. He’s not above criticism – nobody is – but he’s surely in credit with us after years of service.

That said, I’d be disgusted to hear if any Rovers player had received the online abuse that Lines and those close to him have had to put up with. Criticise any player for their performance, that’s your job as a fan, but the reports of his family being upset by personal abuse is a real low point.

If you sent any of that vile nonsense, do us all a favour and stop going to support football matches. It’s like this whole furore with the Italian legend Gianluigi Buffon after the Champions League game last week; various football media types blamed Buffon for inciting fans to abuse the referee and his wife online. What utter rubbish. If grown adults can’t watch a football match without sending vile abuse to a player, referee or members of their families via social media, then that’s the fault of the idiot on the keyboard and no-one else. Hopefully Chris understands that it’s only a moronic minority that are responsible.

So, onward, then, to Rotherham away, quickly followed by the penultimate home fixture of 2017/18 when Wigan come to Horfield on Tuesday. Both of these games are, to put it mildly, rock solid. Both sides came down from the second tier last year and both are decent gets to go straight back up. Obviously Wigan are up in all but name, but Saturday’s opposition are still fighting to secure their play-off spot. The Millers are a team in the purest sense; no stand out names or high maintenance superstars can be found at the New York stadium. (Seriously though, the name of that ground is embarrassing). Paul Warne has a team, much like our own albeit on a higher budget, that focuses on hard work. That’s not to say we couldn’t win – lowly Rochdale managed to leave South Yorkshire with the points not so long ago.

We could be hosting a party come Tuesday, as Wigan promotion, or indeed the title, could be decided. Postponed from earlier in the year due to the Latics’ FA Cup run, this is a case of our injury-hit team coming up against a squad that is already Championship quality.

I’d usually be concerned that a squad in holiday mode coming up against two very good teams might result in a couple of drubbings, but given that there are going to be a good few youngsters and development lads playing to impress, and maybe a few senior pros possibly trying to change DC’s mind before the final decisions are made in May, I think we’ll do alright.