GARY Bowyer admits Blackburn Rovers are where they deserve to be in the Championship table but insists the club is in better shape than when he first stepped into the manager’s shoes.

Bowyer takes charge of his 100th match as Rovers boss at Bournemouth tomorrow with his side now 15 points behind the play-offs as a result of Tuesday’s 2-1 home loss to Norwich City.

MORE TOP STORIES:

His first game in the Ewood Park hotseat came midway through the tumultuous 2012-13 season that saw the club sack three managers and rack up staggering financial losses that it continues to pay the price for.

Bowyer led Rovers to a 3-1 victory at Barnsley that day but he lasted just three more matches before he returned to his role with the reserves following the appointment of Michael Appleton.

The 43-year-old took over the reins in a caretaker capacity for a second time, however, after Appleton followed Henning Berg and Steve Kean through the door.

Bowyer led Rovers to safety and was rewarded with the job on a full-time basis in May 2013 and in his first full campaign at the helm achieved an eighth-placed finish that led supporters to dream of a promotion push for this season.

But that dream now appears to have died after a run of just three wins in 14 games since their team broke into the top six at the end of November.

Bowyer refuses to believe Rovers’ challenge is over but accepts there now has to be a ‘realism’ of the position they find themselves in the standings.

He is adamant, though, that the club has changed for the better since that afternoon at Oakwell on December 29, 2012.

“100 per cent it’s in better shape, the whole place,” said Bowyer, who has won 38, drawn 33 and lost 28 of his 99 matches as manager of Rovers.

“The training ground is completely different and now people come into work with smiles on their faces.

“I think there are over 25 first-team players who have left the building and we’ve brought in some wonderful footballers who have produced some great performers and who have increased the values of their investments.

“The return on the investments we have made has been very good, very sensible, very logical and I think you can tell, surely, that it’s a different vibe when you come into the building now.

“Even today, after a defeat, the players are honest and they are ready to go again.”

Of the players who were on Rovers’ books at the time of that Barnsley game only seven – Jason Lowe, David Dunn, Markus Olsson, Jordan Rhodes, Josh King, Adam Henley and Grant Hanley – remain at the club or remain in Bowyer’s plans.

Alongside overhauling an overpaid and under-performing squad Bowyer made Rovers competitive again.

But, having achieved that, he is under pressure to progress the club further.

“It’s interesting,” said Bowyer, who is operating under the restrictions of a transfer embargo after the club failed Financial Fair Play.

 “You have to use good examples all the time and good models all the time.

“From where we were when we first took over, and from what we did in that first year, and then we’ve talked about (transfer) windows, the squad and where we’re at in terms of our financial situation, I think you have to look at the likes of Leicester and Derby.

“They took three or four years to get level from where they were and from what happened with their relegations.

“That’s not hiding anything, that’s just facts. Both of those clubs had to clear a hell of a lot of people off the wage bill and we’ve made inroads on that.

“It’s a case of keep working away and in the summer we’ll be in a better shape and build again and have a go again.

“We are not resting on what we’ve done, a hell of a lot of work has gone in, more work than anybody will really realise, but we are not letting up, we’re just going to keep working ever so hard, put our foot down and go again.”

It looks almost certain Rovers will start the summer as a Championship club for the fourth year running after the midweek defeat to Norwich stretched the gap to sixth place to 15 points.

“Of course the odds are stacked against us,” said Bowyer.

“We’re totally aware of that, we’re realistic, but we’ve still got plenty of league games and you can see it quickly change.

“We’re not going to be shouting from the rooftops saying we’re going to be there and we’ll add that realism to it.

“We’ve got an obligation to go out there and perform to the best of our abilities, every game, for ourselves, for the supporters, and for the club, and, like I say, you’ll never know where that takes you.”

Tenth-placed Rovers have won 11, drawn 11 and lost 11 of their 33 league matches so far this season.

And Bowyer said: “As loads of people will tell you the table does not lie.

“That said we’ve never been out of games, we’ve always had opportunities in games, it’s the lack of clean sheets and the lack of converting our chances that has got us into the position we are in at this moment.

“But we are not going to stop working and stop trying to improve.”​