Leroy Rosenior: Mixed week for Bristol Rovers, but Walsh's appointment is vital

I WANT to start this week by saying how pleased I am to see Alan Walsh back in the game after being appointed to take up the role of head of youth at Bristol Rovers this week. I worked with Alan for a number of years and a I think it's a fantastic appointment by Rovers.

Alan is a real gentleman and a very good coach, who will go in there and be a very inspirational figure to the younger kids.

He's a football man who has lived in Bristol for many years and is very-well respected on the local football scene, so I think his presence around the place will only help to persuade parents that Rovers would be a good place for their lad to go and develop their game.

While that was an encouraging move for Rovers this week, it's tough times for Mark McGhee and the first-team squad at the moment – although I hope Fabian Broghammer's last-minute equaliser on Saturday is a sign that luck is starting to turn after what has been a poorer-than-expected start to the season.

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Unfortunately, a few days later it was confirmed that Cian Bolger is to be sidelined for three months of his six-month-loan deal after sustaining a knee injury during the game – it just seems like a case of one step forward and two steps back for Rovers at the moment.

It was a bit of a coincidence that just 24 hours before it was confirmed that Cian had damaged his posterior cruciate ligament, Mark had been expressing concerns over the fitness of Garry Kenneth.

Mark says he's determined to get Garry back to full fitness and has some ideas on how to do it.

Having to jog to Cribbs Causeway from the Memorial Stadium every day! I don't fancy that much!

In all seriousness, though, the fact that the defender is struggling with fitness is not something supporters like to hear – particularly as Garry arrived with a big reputation after playing most of his career at the top-level in Scotland.

Let's be honest, though, had Garry been anywhere close to the sort of form and fitness that saw him play for Scotland, then it is unlikely he'd have been prepared to drop down to League Two and play for Bristol Rovers.

In a way, it's a bit of a gamble on Mark's part, but because he knows him, the odds are slightly stacked in Rovers' favour on this one.

He's signed a three-year deal so it is too early to judge whether it will be a hit or miss, but if he does get back to somewher near his best then Rovers will certainly have a player on their hands who is capable of playing at a much higher level than the one they are currently at.

Bristol City, meanwhile, have had a couple of weeks of respite from the Championship and they come back after the international break to a fantastic game against Blackburn looking to build on the great start they have made to the season at Ashton Gate.

They struggled at home last season but Derek McInnes said earlier this week that they may be on the way to banishing the 'fear factor' of playing there. Early results suggest there is some weight in that statement.

Blackburn are a team you'd expect to be in the running for promotion following their relegation from the Premiership last season and are a club that are miles apart from City in terms of their financial clout.

City, however, are not alone in that – how many other clubs in the Championship could lose a striker like Leon Best and then just go out and spend £8 million to bring Jordan Rhodes in from Huddersfield?

I've said this before, though, I don't worry about City in these sorts of big games – it's the ones at Peterborough and then at Watford next week where I think we will learn a bit more about Derek's side.

Peterborough are one of the sides that have been tipped to struggle this season and, without wishing to disrespect Darren Ferguson and his players, I think these are the sort of games that City will need to win if they have any ambitions of really building on the promising start to the campaign they have made.

Watford is a bit of a funny one to predict – but I honestly think it is the easier of the two games.

I worry for them, in all honesty, despite the fact that they have new investors who have tried to raise the profile of the club with the appointment of Gianfranco Zola.

I'm not sure how well he knows the Championship and I'd also be concerned that he appears to have his hands tied a little bit in terms of having to have a lot of players on loan from two European clubs – Udinese in Italy and Granada in Spain.

These players who will have no experience of playing in this country at all. You can probably get away with having one or two with that profile, but you'll encounter problems when you're bringing in more than that.

Watford were beaten 5-1 at Derby last time and I think that could be a sign of things to come – I'd fancy City to go there and intensify the problems I can see them possibly having over the coming weeks.

Interview: James McNamara