Saturday saw Rovers lose to a poor bottom of the table side with a desperately disappointing performance.

Credit to Charlton.

They stuck to the game plan and sat with 10 men behind the ball, grabbing a goal on the break.

But Rovers’ display was bereft of desire, creativity, and, most importantly, passion.

It was disappointing having seen us dominate in home games against other lesser Championship sides, such as Bolton and Barnsley.

Historically we have struggled to turn up against the poorer teams we should comfortably beat and I had been hopeful we had banished that hoodoo.

Alas it wasn’t to be and our consistent inconsistency continued.

What has become evident to me in recent weeks is how important David Dunn is to our team.

The Harwood veteran knows this club and the area like the back of his hand.

He has the passion we so desperately need to start succeeding and he genuinely cares about how well the team is doing, because at heart he is one of us.

Take away the footballing ability and Dunny could well be stood next to any one of us on the Ewood terraces every other week.

He is a game changer who, with a clever touch or deft pass, can open up a defence and provide that all important goal.

For evidence of how much we miss Dunny, just re-watch the derby at Turf Moor last month and see how lame our performance was.

This was a game against our fiercest rivals and we were lucky to escape with a point because the performance just wasn’t good enough.

Bring Dunn into the mix, a man whose passion for this match has been evident on more than one occasion, and I believe we would have seen a big difference.

It has to be said, the lack of passion on Saturday extended further than the parameters of the playing field.

There was a strange atmosphere among the fans.

A lethargy that may well have invaded the mentality of the 11 in blue and white.

There is a gap opening up between us and the play-offs now and we desperately need to out a run together soon or promotion will once again be an impossible dream.

Hopefully DJ Campbell will return and show us what he is capable of, and we are still waiting for Rochina to return. Indeed we will need the Spaniard once Cairney makes his inevitable return to Hull.

What is certain is that if we fail to pick up three or four wins in the next half or dozen games or so that gap between Rovers and the promotion places will start to look totally insurmountable.