This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Rewind’ series, this content strand is where we rewind back to a particular moment at a club, assess the initial reaction from the fans, and then proceed to evaluate and reflect on whether fans were right to react in that way…

Following the somewhat unexpected departure of David Raya to Brentford during the summer, Blackburn Rovers found themselves in need of a new number one heading into the start of the season.

After plenty of links with several goalkeepers, Blackburn eventually got their man late in the window, with Christian Walton signing on a season-long loan from Premier League Brighton towards the end of July.

Prior to his move to Ewood Park, Walton had spent the past two seasons on loan with Wigan Athletic, helping them to the League One title during the 2017/18 campaign, before contributing to the Latics' survival in the second tier the following season.

With those past experience perhaps in mind, it seemed as though plenty of Rovers fans were optimistic about their new signing, with some going as far as to suggest that Walton would prove to be an improvement on Raya.

So far this season, it's probably fair to say that it has been a mixed bag of performances from Walton during his time at Ewood Park.

Up until now, the goalkeeper has started all eleven of Rovers' league games, helping them to 14th in the current standings, with four wins and two draws from those matches.

That consistency that Walton has held over the number one spot is perhaps in part due to the fact that with former Shrewsbury goalkeeper Jayson Leutwiler Blackburn's only other senior goalkeeper right now, there is not a huge amount of competition for Walton to deal with.

Even so, there can be no doubt that on the pitch, Walton has made plenty of positive contributions for Tony Mowbray's side, with his penalty save from Jarrod Bowen and all-round dominance of his penalty area at the KCOM Stadium in Rovers' 1-0 win over Hull - their first away from home of the season - a stand out amongst the four clean sheets he has kept so far this season.

Despite that, there have also been some moments to forget for Walton this season, who hasn't always looked the most convincing when dealing with crosses - a trait that caused similar problems for Raya last season - while the Brighton loanee will have been frustrated to head into the October international break off the back of conceding four at QPR last Saturday.

It seems therefore, that while Walton may not have bettered Raya's performances from last season, Rovers' new, temporary number one has done no worse than his predecessor, and that at least, should give him and Blackburn something to work on going forward.