For all our dangerous attacking play, without an improvement defensively a potentially promising season will fall by the wayside, writes Tom Schofield.

It very much feels like Groundhog Day, since promotion back to the Championship we have had a side that look a threat going forward, rarely though have we looked a tough nut to break.

The echo of Tony Mowbray’s statement still rings in the ears of many a Rovers fan, ‘Defenders are coming’ he said and one year later they have. So why is it we still look so fragile?

Aynsley Pears didn’t do much wrong on his debut, but I do feel the defence missed the calming influence of Thomas Kaminski.

Kaminski almost acts as a third centre half, our back four looks more at ease when he is between the sticks.

That isn’t to say that the result would have been any different, defensively we were poor, and it is something we need to look at combatting immediately.

I hope the return of Daniel Ayala will do just that, in the games I have seen him in so far, he has looked an astute signing and someone who will help combat our fragile defence.

Who he comes into replace is another question, I think on current form it would have to be Lenihan.

What is all the more frustrating about the result against Reading is that is undoes the hard work against Coventry.

The truth is, as comprehensive as all our victories have been this season, they have come against three of the bottom four.

The victories remain impressive, but they can’t be false dawns. I have seen comparisons to the school yard bully, and I think they are spot on.

We pick on those that struggle, but as soon as one of the older kids comes over, we run off scared, that is no good.

A win against Swansea on Saturday would go some way to showing that Rovers can be a force to be reckoned with this season, that needs to happen now though.

We don’t want to be out of the race before it has even begun.