TONY Mowbray says it’s a time to stick together despite Blackburn Rovers suffering a huge setback after a third consecutive defeat against Barnsley.

Rovers slipped to four points from safety after a 2-0 defeat against the Reds and wins for relegation rivals Nottingham Forest and Bristol City who they face next in their next two games.

Mowbray admits back-to-back fixtures against that pair over the Easter weekend offers some form of light at the end of the tunnel for Rovers whose chances of avoiding the drop took a real blow.

They could well require six points against Forest at the City Ground on Good Friday and then on their return to Ewood Park on Easter Monday against Bristol City.

But after going a seventh game without a win, the Rovers head coach said: “It’s a time to stick together, not pick holes in each other.

“Hopefully the team spirit will get us some results which we have found difficult to come by in recent weeks.

“My own view is that the team are working extremely hard, days like that (against Barnsley) do come along in football and it was a frustrating day for all of us.

“It’s always been a big job but obviously these results don’t help.

“If you’re looking for a positive and possible light at the end of the tunnel then the next two games are against Nottingham Forest and Bristol City and we have to try and take maximum points from those.

“We know that.

“We knew we had to try and get three points to go to Nottingham Forest in front of them, it didn’t happen, we know we still need to win those games and then find some others after that.”

Rovers may well need to find three wins from their remaining five games to stay up, increasing the pressure ahead of their trip to Nottingham Forest.

When asked how the players will lift themselves ahead of that one, Mowbray added: “They have to stick together, we have to get back to work, training and prepare for games as we have been.

“Footballers lift themselves, as does team spirit.

“It was obviously a black day for us, a difficult day for everybody really.

“But what else do you do but stick together and prepare for the next game?

“We’ve got five more games to go and we’ve got to win as many as possible.”

Top scorer Danny Graham returned to the squad after a three game absence following a groin injury which required minor surgery during the international break.

He was sent on by Mowbray at half-time but was then forced off six minutes later following a collision involving team-mate Lucas Joao and Barnsley defender Angus MacDonald.

And Mowbray added: “I think he got a whack on the hip.

“It wasn’t a recurrence to the injury which has kept him out for two or three weeks, it was a whack on his hip.

“That almost epitomised the day, we wanted a half chance to fall his way, his goalscoring record is up there with the best in this division, but it wasn’t to be.

“He had to come off and we had to restructure again.”