TONY Mowbray has rejuvenated Rovers in his year in charge, but he admits the rebuilding job is far from done.

Some felt Mowbray had walked out of the frying pan and into the fire after returning to management at Rovers, six months after leaving Coventry City.

From SISU to Venky’s, he has now worked under two of the most controversial ownerships in the Football League.

But, at Ewood, Mowbray has built up a trust with fans and owners which has helped cure some of the divide that previously existed.

And, while he admits he was aware of the ownership situation at Rovers prior to taking the job, Mowbray said he wanted to judge it for himself having been in a similar position at Coventry.

He said: “I felt a similar ownership issue (at Coventry) and felt that you can turn it around but when it is deep rooted it can be difficult to turn it around.

“I don’t feel as though I’ve turned anything round at this club other than on the field of play, I think the supporters are going to need some longer-term things happening for them to think things are not as bad as they might perceive.

“I haven’t lived through the last seven or eight years that they have. I haven’t felt their frustration but all I can do at this moment is give them a team that they enjoy, that they are proud of, who show them they are fighting for the club and where this journey ends, let’s wait and see.

“I feel as if I’m getting supported by the players, the owners, the supporters, the staff around the building, any football club is only as good as the people that support it and the people who work in this building care about this club and are desperate for it to do well.

“We’re just trying to mould and engineer that so we’re all rolling and pulling in the same direction but I’m very conscious it’s fine margins.”

Mowbray sought assurances from Venky’s before committing his future to the club when he signed his one-year contract extension in June.

He added: “I think on the back of a relegation there’s the potential for the club to shrink.

“Were they (the owners) going to continue to invest in the team? Players were on Championship salaries, some of them flexed down, some were out of contract, were they going to support the club, support me? Had they seen enough in the final 15 games to still keep their enthusiasm?

“They were hugely disappointed with the relegation of course but I didn’t feel as if I needed the job if I couldn’t see a way forward.

“If a club continues to spiral down then you could be working extremely hard and putting your principles in to the job and trying to create an environment at the workplace that’s positive but if you haven’t got the support or the players to put on the pitch that can be competitive then it was going to be very difficult.

“I wouldn’t have wanted to do what happened at Coventry, live away from my family at a job I didn’t enjoy getting up every day and going to work and it was a chore because we were getting beat, the papers were negative, the team was struggling and it’s not a nice environment.

“As a manager when you have to be the face and voice of the club then everything comes back at you, the criticism, the flak, every time you lose you feel as if it’s your fault and sometimes your quality of life is important.

“If I didn’t feel the support I would’ve just gone back and played footy in the garden with my kids and taken them to school, had a coffee with my mates and watched the footy results on the TV.

“I was happy to do that because I didn’t want to have a situation where I was coming to work and getting battered by everyone because it can happen.

“But when I went over there (to India to meet Venky’s) I felt their support and they were happy to put some trust in me that I wasn’t going to waste their money, be frivolous and demand this and that.

“It was about whether I had a plan but I think they had seen some shoots last season that they felt we had a plan and we did have a management team that had some ideas and thoughts on how to play and what was the best way forward.”

Mowbray walked away from his job at the Ricoh Arena 10 games into the 2016/17 season, having narrowly missed out on the play-offs the previous year.

A football and family man, finding the correct balance is important for the boss who spends at least five days a week in East Lancashire.

He said: “At Coventry the journey didn’t end well, the issues for me personally around Coventry was that I was living three-and-a-half-hours away from my family.

“I have talked a lot about my family, I have got young children and I think it’s important I am a father as well as a working professional and when it impacts too much on your life then I made a decision at Coventry to go and be a dad.

“At this club I’m an hour-and-a-half away and any day I want to drive home I can, it’s an easier balance in my life for me.

“I’m enjoying it, at this club I think as long I feel as though we are moving in the right direction and I feel I am enjoying work and I can get up in the morning and come to work and try and achieve something then I’m happy. My family understand.

“I get on with the job, football is what I do, football and family are the only important things in my life.”

Rovers head into the final 13 games of the season sitting top of League One and eyeing an immediate return to the Championship.

On the importance of finishing in the top two Mowbray added: “There’s no foregone conclusion, there’s definitely two, maybe three or four teams up there with us and we’re in that mix, but we have to stay professional and work as hard as we have been and make sure we’re one of the two that make it automatically.”