So the Wembley dream ends at the Theatre of Dreams.

Of course, like all Rovers fans, I am disappointed, but I think we should all find reasons to be cheerful in defeat.

First and foremost, the team's performance against Chelsea over 120 minutes was probably as good as we could have expected.

And had Morten Pedersen buried that header with five minutes of normal time remaining, I'd be worrying about singing My Way in front of the Town Hall steps and jostling for cup final tickets.

Then there was the fantastic support of the Rovers' following.

If we're honest, we are not known for being the most vociferous or passionate fans.

However, as at Cardiff in 2005, we know how to rise to the occasion and I was thoroughly proud of the fantastic support that the lads received throughout.

The weather couldn't have been better and a modern day Lowryesque scene of both sets of fans trudging over the suspension bridge to the impressive Lowry Theatre Complex will live long in my memory.

Here's a quote from Alan Hansen on Match of the Da on , Saturday night: "I think we all want a Man United/Chelsea final."

If I'm honest, the thing that really gets my goat about losing is that the likes of Alan Hansen and Co get their dream final' after all.

How sweet it would have been to deny the country of yet another installment of the United v Chelsea saga.

And how sad and boring are those football experts who seemingly can't get enough of the same old fare?

The odds are heavily stacked against Rovers or indeed any team who now seek to break the big four monopoly.

That was amply illustrated by the fact that when West Ham surprisingly defeated Arsenal at the Emirates a couple of weeks ago, it was the first time any of the big four' had lost at home to an English side other than the big four' for 14 months (co-incidentally since West Ham defeated Arsenal at Highbury).

Football finances today are weighted so that the rich can get richer and we can expect the gap to widen even more.

The football media will presumably be delirious because there will be a lot more big' games involving Chelsea and United.

Before they get too excited, however they should perhaps reflect that variety is the spice of life, and in my view, is the lifeblood of football. You can certainly get too much of a good thing.

I hope therefore that plenty of those Rovers fans who had a great day out on Sunday will get down to Ewood tomorrow for the Watford match.