There is no doubt that things have looked pretty bleak of late for Rovers, and although Christmas is supposed to be a happy time of year, not even a Triple Treat from Santa could bring festive joy to the travelling fans this weekend.

No one can be more down than I am about the way things have been going since Sparky picked up the cursed Manager of the Month award for October, but support is what the Club needs right now, not criticism.

I have read and heard all sorts of knee jerk reaction comments since the weekend about our players and the management and their ability to produce at the level required, which I think quite frankly are ridiculous.

No one can deny that performances have been way below the standard expected recently, but I also believe that good players don't become bad ones overnight.

Every team outside the top two has a blip at some point in the season and this is ours.

The question is now, how do us fans react? Our next two games see us up against Arsenal and Chelsea at Ewood - tough matches in anyone's book, but also ones that we know we are capable of getting a result from.

What I hate to see, although it is probably inevitable, is the crowd getting on the teams back if we go behind in either game early on, or don't make a good start.

Instead the fans need to rally round and produce the kind of atmosphere that gives the players the platform to go on and do what we know they can do.

A trip to Wembley and a top six finsh are still very realistic possibilities this season, so let's show our support.

And remember, how many presents the fans get from our very own Santa this Christmas might just depend on whether we are naughty or nice!