THE weekend results didn’t appear to go too badly for the Rovers although the future is, as ever, in their own hands, writes Simon Smith.

The more draws that occur between other teams the more the taking of three points is so precious in this division.

Oldham certainly appear to be flying since their sacking of John Sheridan, but it may well be a ‘dead cat bounce’ with all due respect to feline lovers.

It will be nice to see Jack Byrne again, this time probably not seething on the substitutes bench behind Owen Coyle as Hope Akpan or Danny Guthrie got the nod for the last 20 minutes.

What has happened on the training ground in the last week or so isn’t known to us, but I’m sure the issues from the last few games will have been addressed in depth.

It was a great piece of PR to secure the further services of midfielder Elliot Bennett during this quiet news period.

Bennett is a man who doesn’t just tweet out the sound bites but also lets his effort and ability talk for him.

He has played a lot of minutes this season and has, at times, faded from games.

However, his quality is visible even to a blinkered eye.

The odd thing about the ‘club v country’ debate is that it no longer concerns England for Rovers fans.

Both games for me were spent on ‘Mulgrew-watch’ as, although I wish Charlie only the best, if Scotland weren’t to be in the play-offs I didn’t want him also crocked into the bargain.

One thing Rovers have undoubtedly got over most teams in the division is strength in depth.

And no matter how slow and cagey the start is we must trust in Tony Mowbray to deliver the result whether that means sacrificing talented players for some of the game, or defending a lead with lumpen tactics.

It has seemed to be a long time without league football so let’s enjoy the trip to Oldham and sing the boys to another awayday victory.