As Donaldo says, we are so unpredictable. I hope we can take down another "top" team, and so I'll go with the same score, 1-2 to the Rovers.
At the moment I'll say Molyneux to score if he starts. May change that when I see the team.

Back home now from my Greek break. Watched AEK v Ajax. Never seen so much play acting and appealing! Green laser pens used constantly by the crowd to distract players and the ref, appalling! The energy and work rate of AEK countering the more skilled and technical Ajax so a 1-1 draw was fair. I'm thinking the same for Rovers today. So 1-1, Ironside or Faal.

Stockport 1-2 Rovers. Glass half full view but let's see. Rowe and Ironside.

Hope that I continue to get it wrong 😉
Stockport 3-1 Rovers
Faal to score ⚽

I think, as usual, the DFP player ratings are a bit over the top and optimistic. I think Stockport just about justified a win as they created many more real chances, and except from their poor finishing, and two pretty good saves from Jones, they could have been out of site.
However, we had that double opportunity to go ahead. I thought Grant's comment that Faal should have tried to around the keeper, and Ironside should have gone low, were spot-on. If we had scored then, I really believe we would have won the game.
I was not the greatest fan of Marquis, but he would not have missed the chance Ironside had.

Thanks Mickey. I was not able to follow the game beyond looking at the score from time to time. I suppose Stockport are a force to be reckoned with at this level so 0-1 away isn’t bad.

We must hope that there is still scope for improvement.

This is just to say that I don’t intend to put up a separate thread for tonight’s cup game vs Mansfield.

You deserve a rest!

Rovers contested this intensively, but the chances which might have provided a comfortable win fell the wrong players. Goodman was slow in seizing 3 good early opportunities and Molyneux was guilty of poor decision-making in the penalty area in the second half.

Lawlor put in a good performance - Jones would have conceded several goals looking suitably helpless. Kuleya put in a good show, especially in the first half. Flint seems to lack strength and with youth on his side ought to be quicker to make up for his lack of strength. Faal and Ironside put their usual useful efforts, but the ball wouldn’t run for us and Mansfield benefitted from the generosity of the referee, his penalty decision in particular.

Rovers were the more hardworking and it’s a pity luck could not be more evenly divided.

Donaldo, just about what I thought about the game. I did not see Mansfield's goals as I'd forgotten it was a 19:00 kick-off. It was a good come back from 2-0 and we had enough chances to win the game. Molyneux could have had a good game except for those last minute decisions in the box, but he was a little unlucky in that shot that hit the post - two inches more curl and it would have been in the net.
I also was a little disappointed in Flint, especially as Grant had raved about his potential.
There appeared to be potential in some of these fringe and young players, but even in League Two a slight lack of concentration can punish you. Bad marking resulted in the third goal, but I thought Lawlor could have saved it. Donaldo, to be you seem too biased against Jones. To me neither are very good goalkeepers, just good enough (almost) for League Two.

I am irritated by Jones and I keep repeating my views of his shortcomings I know, but I do think that Lawlor might be better now than when he left us originally.

As for the youngsters, Marsh is not in the same bracket as Faal Kuyela seemed to do well particularly in the first half

OK, although I won't change my mind about Jones, I do go on I know. You probably saw the best of Flint, such as it was, as he did improve as the game went on, but he does not have the strength of Faulkner who does not seem any more popular with McCann than he did with Schofield. He is such an industrious fellow, a real team player.

I think some referees look at the league table and give the higher placed team the benefit of marginal decisions. I'm not one to routinely complain about penalty awards, but I wonder if these aspiring young refs think that to give a penalty for a scarcely discernible offence in the box is it is mark of expert perception. I thinking "shocking" is an overused word in describing such bad decisions, but for once it really was for Rovers fans. Having said that, I do wonder whether, in shepherding the ball out for a goal kick, Faulkner may have touched the ball with his hand as he fell and if he did, the officials missed that.

Over all the leagues I think refereeing needs improving - especially being consistent. What I hate most is when I read about the ref for the Rovers' game and he or she is in their first EFL season - they usually throw yellow cards around like confetti to prove they are in charge. Actually the current yellow standards in all leagues are spoiling the game - a tackle can be a foul, but it seems if someone falls over it is too often a yellow. I think I've said before, it is the chickification of footie.
Even in the Premier League, consistency is an issue. I watched the Gunners vs. Man City, and Man City should have been down to ten men in the first half. Both the player's tackles were as bad as the one that got the Liverpool player a straight red. I'm not in favour of reducing teams, but it is the lack of consistency that is making the situation worse. I normally think the ref in the Gunners game is one of the best, but by current standards the first tackle was marginally a red, and the second a definite yellow.
When I think of some of the defenders the Rovers had in the early 1950s, they would not be on the pitch for more than 20 minutes in today's game!

Yes, Syd Bycroft was the archetype of the robust challenge, but although there were broken legs, collar bones and arms plus injuries which sometimes reduced players to being “a passenger” who would stay on the field if he could still stand up. Bill Paterson who replaced Syd seemed quite dainty in comparison - he was a really classy footballer who went to Newcastle United.

However, considering the robust nature of the tackling, players were much more resilient than they are today. I think that one theory is that modern players are so finely tuned that they are more fragile.