Rovers' survival could hinge on January transfers

Of Blackburn's 10 championship defeats from 20 games this season, this one is right up there with the most disappointing.

It may be that the lengthy commute back to Lancashire from Fratton Park influences the thinking a little, but this defeat was down to the fundamental basics of football and incidents that shouldn't happen at this level.

It's a head-scratcher to figure out which error is the worst really.

Rovers gave away two foul throws from two different players. They gave another away on Tuesday against Oxford.

They are regularly shipping crucial goals in a worryingly similar fashion. The head coach identified the individual who has been culpable for those lapses of late.

There was the completely needless concession of a corner with senior players watching the ball roll over the byeline without doing anything to stop it. The resulting corner found a centre-back completely unmarked to head home a winner.

And, deep into stoppage time, there was being caught offside from a pretty straight free-kick when it was the last chance to throw something at Portsmouth.

Apart from one of the foul throws, this all happened in the second half, with Rovers going into the break leading through a fabulous Yuki Ohashi goal.

Fratton Park was quiet at half-time, discontent building. But, for whatever reason, one passage of play where Portsmouth came close to scoring on three occasions changed the whole landscape.

The crowd started to believe, the players did too, and the mentality of Valerien Ismael's team could be called into question.

Surrendering a lead in games is nothing new this season - 16 points have been lost from winning positions. Looking fragile at defending set-plays is nothing new either.

The defeat has left Ismael adamant his squad needs to be strengthened in the January transfer window - and early.

Ismael told me: "We've spoken already with the board. I say as quick as possible. The longer we are waiting, the more problems we will get.

"Every game counts in January. We need new faces, we need to refresh. We need to adjust the squad, to adapt with the shape that we play. The earlier the players come in, the better it will be for us.

"We've got already the list identified. Now it's not in my control. We've made our job now. It's clear that we need players. We will get some and the best is to have them ideally on 1 January, but that is always difficult.

"The week after is the game against Hull City in the FA Cup and I think we can use that game to integrate all of the new players."

Ismael is a straight-talker. He's clear in his mind of what he wants. Now it remains to be seen if those targets can be brought in as early as he wants them.

Rovers have been more of a deadline-day deal team in recent seasons. Seven players have been added permanently or on loan in the past two January windows on or after 31 January.

It's also pretty clear that in order to bring in the new faces he wants, there will be casualties too.

They currently have 24 names in their squad already so there is one spot left but you get the feeling the head coach has made his decision that some existing players won't be part of the plan in 2026.

It's not an impossibility that some arrivals last summer might not see out the season.

Ismael added: "At some point it's all about the performance, the squad, the discipline we see on the pitch. In our assessment we have to be ruthless now.

"We know that we can perform, we know that we need all of our [injured] players and at some point we have to make decisions. If something is not right and we're not happy, then we have to make the change."

This time last year, John Eustace was very keen to add to his squad to maintain a play-off push. Twelve months on, Blackburn's championship status could rest on the success rate of their mid-season window.