ROVERS’ strong defensive displays of late will be put to the test against an Oxford United side who are the joint top scorers in the division.

Pep Clotet’s men put four past Plymouth Argyle at the weekend to move to 31 goals scored in 18 League One games and seventh in the table. In playmaker Jack Payne they also have a man in form, with the on-loan Huddersfield man having chalked up five goals and nine assists so far.

But Tony Mowbray is looking for his side to pose the Us problems of their own after netting three times in their win at Bury.

“They will be confident after an impressive away victory at the weekend but they have lost to Northampton at home recently and one or two other results that didn’t go their way,” he said.

“We have to try and make it a difficult night for them, that they feel our quality and intensity of our team, our athleticism, and let’s see if we can get a result.

“I don’t think we bank everyone behind the ball but we have intelligent, experienced defenders who have shown that they can get the job done.

“(Charlie) Mulgrew is an international footballer, (Paul) Downing has come in and done exceptionally well, David Raya is a good goalkeeper and the full-backs have shown they’re capable.

“We need to have good focus but to carry a threat that we had at the weekend and hopefully make them mindful of that threat when we turn the ball over.

“They have some threats, some good players, technically a good team with the ball that we have to be wary of but we have got to try and impose ourselves on them.”

Although pleased with Rovers’ defensive record away from home, he says they have to strike the right balance having gone two games without scoring prior to the weekend’s win at Bury.

He added: “Everything has a balance to it.  The days when we don’t score away from home, losing 1-0 at Oldham, there’s a frustration that comes and hits you in the face.

“Are you attacking enough, have you got the balance right, have we got enough forwards on the pitch?

“It’s always a balance.  We can talk now about losing two goals since August away from home and think that’s pretty good but you have to balance that up with victories and wins.

“We have done all right away from home, we have had a couple of threes, we have had a couple of 1-0 wins which for any team which wants to do well is vitally important and not worry too much about the entertainment factor but put the points in the bag.

“It’s pleasing the away form, let’s see if we can keep it going at Oxford.

“They had a good victory at the weekend and they will be looking forward to try and get back-to-back wins, but it’s the next challenge for them, we will go there and try and make life difficult for them and ask questions of them defensively and see if we can get the points.”

With Rovers’ previous four away trips having been Bury, Rochdale, Wigan and Oldham, they face a near 400 mile round-trip to Oxford tomorrow evening.

After a season high away following of 3,606 at Bury on Saturday, Mowbray added: “It’s not a short trip but I am mindful of the cost of modern day football and people will have work the following day.

“I’m sure there will be a decent number of Rovers fans who make the trip and we have to make sure that the ones that do we make it worth their while and give them a performance where they are proud of their team.”