ROVERS head to Birmingham City on Saturday looking to make it nine points from the last 12. We asked our fans' jury whether their expectations for the season have changed...

KELVIN WILKINS

THE saying one swallow doesn’t make a summer comes to mind although we’ve certainly had an upturn in fortune, the Sheffield Wednesday game aside. There’s more stability in the team although without question, the greatest impact has been the arrival of Martin Emnes. Not only has he brought goals, but his energy and intelligent movement has been something to behold.

We have a multitude of striking options who each offer something different and two wingers who will always provide goals and chances. Other than that though, I fail to be excited with limited full-backs, serious lack of pace in Gordon Greer and a midfield that can only chase a game, not control it.

Is that enough to feel more confident about the season? Well, it all comes down to if we take our chances because there’s going to be no shortage of goals.... but who for? 

PAUL YATES

OH dear. If I was wearing my rose tinted spectacles then I might have said I was cautiously optimistic and that Rovers now have a squad capable of avoiding relegation.

But Tuesday’s result just brings the curtain of doom and gloom descending once again in front of us manic depressives. Once we play a ‘good’ team we are found out.

Another home defeat and the usual feeling of having hopes built up and then the inevitable let down. Owen Coyle had done better than I would have expected given that it was a very poor appointment.

SAM JONES

RECENT results have given Rovers a better chance of staying in this division. The team has shown they are capable of giving the fans something to cheer about and there is finally something to build on.

But with some tough games on the horizon, more defeats may come our way. The fact that both wins were against fellow struggling clubs, Rotherham and Derby, is no coincidence. When playing against stronger opposition in Sheffield Wednesday, Rovers struggled to make an impact. The away team controlled and ultimately won the game, leaving us back in the bottom three and with a lot of work still to do.

A similar torrid start to last season ultimately cost Gary Bowyer his job and calls for Owen Coyle to go the same way will increase among the Ewood Park faithful if those back-to-back victories are merely outliers in a string of defeats.

If we could hang onto loanee Marvin Emnes for an extended period, along with strike partner Sam Gallagher, then perhaps expectations would increase beyond survival. 

CAMERON DEACON

GOOD performances never hurt but I still expect us to be part of the dogfight. Our start to the season just wasn’t good enough and that is going to hurt us all season whether we play well or not. 

What we also have to remember is that there are 23 other teams who can all play well. And there are so many teams who can go for a play-off place this year.

Sheffield Wednesday for one, they had such a well-organised and compact defence that even when we were attacking well, like we were on Tuesday, we still couldn’t break them down.

When we have played the top teams in this league so far we have suffered. We have only played two teams in the top 10 so far and we have lost on both occasions. The class of the opposition showed.

Losses to Cardiff and Wigan are unacceptable as they are the teams that we need to be beating to get away from the drop.

Derby and Rotherham are good teams to pick up points against but there has to be a consistency, four or five games of good results that will throw you up the table is what you need to add security.

But I still expect us to be fighting relegation.