Tony Mowbray admits he has tried to instil the values of ‘hard work and honesty’ at Rovers this season which has helped create their strong team spirit.

The Rovers boss says recruitment has been based around bringing in the right type of characters who won’t disrupt the feel-good factor in the dressing room.

With Rovers top of League One going in to their remaining nine games, Mowbray admits there is a determination within the dressing room to see the job through.

He points to a sense of determination to win promotion back to the Championship at the first attempt, and credited Rovers’ band of four loan players with playing a key part in their title charge.

He said: “It’s about character and personality and I think as we move forward it will become a lot more evident that if you are trying to build something more long-term than just winning the next game you have to create a club with a set of values and a code of conduct.

“To do that you have to have good human beings, good people who understand what the club is about and I think we have tried to bring in loan players as well as the permanent ones who know that everything is underpinned by hard work and honesty, camaraderie and team spirit is what drives successful football teams and that’s what we have to strive for.”

Rovers currently have four loan players on their books following the January additions of Adam Armstrong and Jack Payne, with Marcus Antonsson and Harry Chapman on season-long deals.

Paul Downing saw his move made permanent from MK Dons during the winter window, with all five playing a key role this term.

Mowbray has made 15 signings so far this season, and admits the personality of each player are studied just as much as their abilities on the pitch.

And he admits the players are the ones who are driving the team forward in the closing months of the campaign.

“If we get it wrong one day and someone is a bit aloof or their ego is too big or whatever that might be they will find problems at the club because ultimately you want to get to the point where the team manages itself and the manager guides them down the path and that’s what we aim for,” he said.

“Character and personality and the ones we’ve brought in all fit that remit of being good characters and really buying in to the values and ethos of the club.”