MUTTERINGS of discontent are set to rumble on through another blank weekend following the midweek defeat to Wolves.

But it's time for everyone to take a deep breath and hold their nerve.

It's now pretty apparent that we are going to bob along in mid-table from now until the end of the season.

Two successive defeats have resigned even the most ardent supporter to another season of Championship football - even those optimists who had felt that we could replace Ade Akinbiyi with a few top class strikers in the brief window the manager had to try and find a replacement.

From his comments it's now clear that Steve Cotterill intends to keep most of his powder dry until the summer, when the footballing grapevine is in full swing and the market is awash with out-of-contract players.

Who can really blame him?

As he said, things might be different if we had hung onto the coat tails of the play-off chasing pack. Strengthening from a position of power is always the preferable way to do business.

Alas now, there may not now be too many fresh faces this side of April 30.

So what better time to perhaps blood some of the club's young, emerging talent?

I don't seriously think the likes of Marc Pugh and Kyle Lafferty are up to the weekly rigours of Championship football just yet, but clearly those two, along with Chris McCann, have impressed Steve enough to gain recognition.

Kyle looks set to return from Darlington shortly with a real spring in his step after making an immediate impact in League Two, while Marc Pugh made the bench on Tuesday night for his first call-up for a good few months.

McCann, meanwhile, continues to impress me every time he appears, although I do feel it's easier for a midfielder to come into your side.

Strikers are out there on a limb, being constantly judged on goals, which makes life automatically harder in a team that is struggling a little to carve out clear openings.

Mad March is also looming - a tough month that begins when Reading turn up at Turf Moor on their unstoppable charge towards the Premiership.

It would take an enterprising and brave manager to throw the kids in at the deep end and Steve has a track record of doing just that.

But the 50-point safety barrier is only a couple of wins away and the sooner we get there, then the manager can start planning for the future.

The likes of Lafferty and Pugh would undoubtedly benefit from a four or five game burst in the first team.

Maybe it would also lift some of doom and gloom in the stands at the same time?