Following a promising start to the season it has been a pretty rough week for us Rovers fans, after suffering back to back defeats in both the UEFA Cup and Premiership.

The midweek European showing against supposedly lesser opponents Larissa in Greece really did demonstrate the "ugly" side of European competition as Rovers spluttered to a miserable defeat of a nature completely unseen during Mark Hughes tenure.

Having watched the match my first instinct was to blame the pitch which seemed to be causing us all sorts of problems until I recalled that the home side had switched their stadium to accommodate the game, and would therefore have been unfamiliar with the surface also. Rovers will simply have to do better in the home leg which now has all the potential of a Classic Cup tie. Hopefully the attendance will reflect the importance of the game and the crowd will play their part in helping Rovers win through to the Group Stages where more glamorous opposition awaits.

Winning in Europe is great and nobody seems to mind the extra games when things are going well, but it is funny how a negative result midweek seems to give rise to the feeling that the UEFA Cup is a distraction and has an impact on players energy levels.

Rovers were criticised in certain quarters that they seemed jaded from their exploits in Greece and certainly the performance on Sunday against Pompey did little to refute those claims. Apart from an impressive opening period where Roque Santa Cruz almost added another goal to his early season tally, Rovers disappointed and I think for once Hughesy got his tactics wrong and maybe Harry Redknapp got his right.

The crowd started to get on the back of some players for their lack of effort, which was disappointing although I can understand the frustration. One thing I will say in the defence of the likes of Morten Gamst Pedersen and others is that Sparky demands a lot from his players and if the don't stand up to the line I am sure he would be the first to read the riot act. Hughes implements scientific measures such as Pro-Zone to get the best out of his team on a match to match basis and although we can't win every game, I am sure the tired and frustrated displays of the last week will be put behind us and we will be back to winning ways again soon, hopefully starting against "Big Club" Birmingham City in the Carling Cup.