A LEADER in the dressing room and a hard worker on the pitch, Tony Mowbray is delighted to welcome Craig Conway back in to the fold.

The Rovers winger has struggled with two separate hamstring injuries and a hip problem which has restricted him to just eight league outings. His eighth came in last weekend's win at Peterborough United, with Conway's return particularly timely given the four game ban handed to fellow winger Elliott Bennett.

The Scot will mark four years at the club next month and Mowbray admits he is an important figure in the dressing room.

“That’s really important, particularly the time it has come with Elliott missing out for four games,” Mowbray said of Conway's return.

“He’s probably not the most dominant one in the dressing room but he’s the one that has a real level head and is sensible.

“I know that Craig looks after all the discipline side of things within the dressing room for myself and the staff.

“I don’t live in their dressing room so if someone is five minutes late and I’m on the phone, Craig manages that and makes sure that the dressing room is managed properly, professionally and efficiently. His personality allows him to do that.”

Conway is set to start a home game in the league for just the fourth time tomorrow having also played 60 minutes in Wednesday's FA Cup replay at Crewe.

Though Mowbray revealed: “The plan wasn’t for Craig to play but then (Marcus) Antonsson picked up a little niggle and I didn’t want to play a team full of 17 or 18-year-olds in midfield.

“I picked Craig to play and he said he felt great but with Saturday in mind we knew that we would only give him probably 10 minutes of the second half before we made that change.”

Conway has scored just once this season, having netted seven times last term, and improving on his goal tally is a challenge laid down by the boss who saw the winger go close at Crewe.

“We’ve talked about adding more goals to his game, that’s the conundrum really moving forward, if everyone is fit do you play an Antonsson in a wide area to make sure there’s goals and Craig has to make sure we’re aware that he can also score goals and don’t overlook him for a half-a-striker to play in a wide area.

“He’s aware of that, as is Elliott Bennett and we will see how it unfolds.

“The opposition sometimes dictates whether you play two really honest, hardworking wide players or you play two flighty wingers or strikers in the wide areas.

“But it’s good to have the options. At the moment we’re a bit short in those areas but it’s great to have Craig fit and available.”