Rovers reporter Rich Sharpe picks out three talking points from the FA Cup replay defeat to Newcastle United.

BARE BONES

It wasn’t until just a few hours before kick-off, and Jack Rodwell’s illness became known, that Tony Mowbray picked the line-up he did. No work had been done on a back three, and it showed.

The boss, with the options available, could have gone with a back four, but possibly wanted more safety in numbers with a three man backline, which contained two full backs in Ryan Nyambe and Amari’i Bell.

The game could have been done inside the opening quarter, with Rovers finding their feet in the system only after going 2-0 down.

There post-match discussion centred on Newcastle’s defensive problems, after Jamaal Lascelles and Ciaran Clark were forced off, but Rovers were without four frontline defenders of their own.

Mowbray will hope Harrison Reed’s injury, which saw him replaced in the second half, proves to be no more than fatigue, with Rovers certainly needing to get bodies back in to the squad, with the bench including Joe Grayson who had played 90 minutes for the Under-23s just 24 hours earlier.

UNFAIR ADVANTAGE

The first game between the two sides earlier this month saw the use of VAR. When Rovers protested against the award of the penalty, scored by Matt Ritchie to send the tie to a replay, there could be no complaints.

But with the replay at Ewood Park, and Rovers a Championship side, there was no such luxury. And how costly for Rovers that would be. Joselu turned in from close range, after David Raya spilled a long range Fabian Schar shot, and despite being offside, the goal stood as the linesman failed to flag.

It is all ifs, buts and maybes in football, but that would have been cleared up within a matter of minutes. Though, who knows, both teams may well have had penalties were the technology have been available.

While the decision itself is galling, the facta game between two teams in the same competition just 10 days apart can seemingly have different criteria does strike you as rather strange.

It took a couple of seasons for the Championship to catch up in terms of the referees going professional, and the introduction of goal-line technology. How long will the second tier have to wait for VAR’s introduction?

FOCUS ON THE FINISH LINE

Rovers’ cup adventures are now over for another year. They exited the Carabao Cup in extraordinary fashion, after Derrick Williams’ bizarre red card in the 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth, and another Premier League team halted their FA Cup progress.

It is a home game with Hull City, rather than an FA Cup fourth round tie with Watford, at Ewood Park on January 26, the first of 19 remaining league games for Rovers.

The first target will be to surpass their 2016/17 tally of 52 points, something which looks comfortably in their reach, with just five more wins required. Next will be to try and stay in contention of the top six for as long as possible, with the gap currently six points.

It’s now or never in terms of any unlikely push for a play-off spot, but a top half finish is achievable.

Getting players back fit, and a couple of January additions, could well be the fillip everyone needs ahead of the final months.