Mark H: Many have criticised Blackburn's discipline of late due to the recent bans imposed on Paul Dickov and Andy Todd. Is this just passion shining through for the club or do the media have a point in their criticism?

Mark W: I think it has to be a little bit of both. The way we gained the reputation was unfair to begin with - the media take on board what high profile people like Mourinho say and then it's very hard to shake off such a tag. However, nobody at Blackburn can defend the three incidents so far this season - the Dickov sending off, the Neill sending off and the Todd headbutt. I'd rather we were like this than the pushovers we were at times under Souness, but I think we all know something has to be done so that players don't miss big games with suspensions.

Mark H: Mark Hughes was an excellent player during his career for clubs such as Manchester United, Chelsea and yourselves. What qualities has he brought to Ewood Park during his time as the manager there?

Mark W: Every player to a man has been fitter. They all seem to enjoy playing for Hughes and many have said that training is fun and something they look forward to turning up for again. He's brought along Eddie Neddy and Mark Bowen and between them they have introduced a more modern approach with ice-baths and Pro-zone and the like. He also has the quality of patience - with the exception of Savage, he has never shown his hand in the transfer market or panicked and thrown money at a player who might not be right for us.

Mark H: Blackburn have had a mixed start to the campaign with two defeats, a win and a draw. Where do you think they will be at the end of the season and is another good cup run possible?

Mark W: We'll certainly be hoping for anoher cup run because after all it's a road to Europe which raises our profile. If Bellamy remains fit and Savage recaptures some of his form for other clubs then we shoul be a top ten side which nobody wants to play against. I don't see us qualifying for Europe through the league just yet but I think we can certainly improve on the 15th place we've ended up on for the past two seasons.

Mark H: Last season Paul Dickov scored some important goals for Rovers following his cut price move from Leicester City, can he repeat that kind of form this season and how do you expect his partnership with Craig Bellamy to work out?

Mark W: I don't expect him to play as much this season - certainly not from the start. When the going was tough he ran about and hassled defenders but we had no real physical presence to upset them. Bellamy is similar in that he has a lot of pace but defenders will look to bully him. Shefki Kuqi has been brought in to deal with that. It is already apparent that he is no deadly finisher and doesn't have the quality of a good Premiership striker but I can imagine that defenders won't like playing against him for 90 minutes, and that can only help Bellamy.

Mark H: What is your opinion on the recent loan signings of Arsenal's David Bentley and Rangers defender Zura Khizanishvili?

Mark W: Everybody is very positive about Bentley. Nobody knows where he'll actually end up playing but it's a bit of flair and creativity that has been sadly lacking. Only Tugay really has the quality to unlock defences and he's at the end of his career. Bentley will hopefully change all that.

Zurab K is somebody I don't really know about. I hear he's a good footballer,but a little lightweight. He got sent off 20 minutes into his game against Denmark though so I don't think he'll have any problems fitting in here!

Walking Down The Manny Road would like to thank Mark for taking the time out to talk to us. Games against Rovers have always been tight in recent years and local pride is always at stake in these types of games

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