One of the most wonderful boons for a football fan is the Boxing Day fixture. The fog of Hai Karate, the pocketful of chocolate and the annual pilgrimage of the Errey family to Ewood, writes Simon Smith.

And if the game didn't exactly warm the cockles with drama and excitement, well, the glow of Rovers seeing out their 2-0 half-time lead was welcomed. 

In the hectic schedule of festive football there is barely time to digest a game before the next helping is dished up. The unbeaten run continues, points have been made up on our fellow hopefuls and this is the time that the strength in depth Rovers possess in some areas will out.

Obviously Saturday's game against Scunthorpe is vital. A win would put Rovers at least five points ahead of the chasing pack with a home game in hand on most. Heading into 2018 in this position will send a message to those both below and above that Rovers will be a tough nut to crack.

The emergence of Willem Tomlinson from the shadows has been a welcome sight. Now forging ahead of the marquee signing Peter Whittingham and the luckless Rekeem Harper in the pecking order Tomlinson has seized his chance by improving the side visibly with his unfussy, classy play on every appearance. 

He may lack the experience to carry the midfield but as the more artistic counterpoint to the similarly no-nonsense Richie Smallwood he makes the centre of the park seems more balanced. 

The incident with Elliott Ward at Northampton was certainly borne of frustration with the late misses by Craig Conway and Marcus Antonsson rather than the performance of the last-minute deputy. 

Abusing players always takes on a different hue when the player concerned confronts the abusers. Suddenly there is accountability and those responsible are usually made to think about what, and why, they are saying. I am certainly not Ward's biggest fan but he stepped in in difficult circumstances and did his job reasonably well. 

Hopefully we can put it down to frustration and pull together in 2018.