Before I get down to the nitty gritty of my first column, I’d like to thank Rich Sharpe for the opportunity and my predecessor Simon Smith, I hope I can do you and the rest of the club’s fans justice, writes Tom Schofield.

Saturday’s result welcomed a much needed three points, which made it all the more interesting that there was an overall feeling of frustration when walking off Ewood at 5pm.

Of course football is a results business, but Rovers were well below par on Saturday though and will need to improve if they are to make it three home wins in a row on Wednesday evening.

Much of Saturday’s criticism was lobbied towards Brighton loanee, Cristian Walton, and his inability to deal with what looked like a routine low cross led to Barnsley’s second goal. Were it not for Bradley Dack it would have been no wins at home against the three newly promoted sides.

Walton came in as a replacement for David Raya and the victory against Hull aside, he has left many fans lamenting the decision to sell the Spanish shot stopper who is becoming increasingly popular with Wednesday’s opponents, Brentford.

Raya himself wasn’t without his doubters, towards the end of last season especially he was criticised heavily, with Jayson Leutwiler taking his spot between the sticks for the final four games. As a product of our own academy though, he was afforded much more time to get it right.

In truth I was of the opinion that selling Raya was ok, so long as we brought in a stronger replacement. I don’t feel that’s the case with Walton. His kicking ability is slightly better than Raya’s and we don’t have the same problem with the high ball anymore. Other than that though, I think Raya is the better keeper.

It is that where the problem lies as well. From a fans point of view we have sold a product of our own academy, one who still had bags of potential and replaced him with a loanee. A loanee who is no better than what we already had, and we actually owned him.

Raya is sure to get a good reception on Wednesday, and I fully expect him to give us one as well. If ever there was a game for Walton to prove the doubters wrong it will be Wednesday. Here’s hoping for three points.