THIS Ewood season is not going to be one for the purists, as the reactions of the two managers underlined on Saturday.

Tranmere, like others before them, were in frustrating mood and Rovers boss Brian Kidd stressed that his team were going to have to "dig" for victories while sides concentrate on stopping them playing.

John Aldridge, meanwhile, lamented how his team's "gameplan" had only just come unstuck.

"It was always going to be like that. It was stop-start and there was no flow to the game because of all the free kicks and throws," said Kidd.

"I think that is going to happen as the season goes on. We are going to have to dig results out.

"It's not going to be for the purists, certainly not for the first two or three months as we try to get a platform.

"Tranmere worked ever so hard and made it so difficult for us. John Aldridge had a plan there and they worked their socks off.

"You can lose a game like that on a set piece. You only need to lose concentration and you concede a goal. That's why we worked so hard on set pieces before the game. Throws were like a corner to them."

Aldridge, who had clearly instructed his team to do as Port Vale and Barnsley had done in previous matches, blamed "one lapse of concentration" for costing his team the game.

Despite their precarious position, he remains optimistic about the future.

"This is the first time in management that I have lost four in a row but I have faith in the lads. If we keep on playing with that application it will turn for us as it did last season."

Unfortunately for the spectators, words such as application and attitude could be more to the fore than class and quality this year.

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