TONY Mowbray dismissed suggestions there was a lack of passion from his Blackburn Rovers side against Barnsley but accepts their latest defeat leaves them in a ‘difficult position’.

Rovers fell to a third consecutive defeat against the Reds on Saturday and are now four points from safety with just five games of the season remaining.

They now face games against Nottingham Forest and Bristol City over the Easter weekend, two of the three sides directly above them in the table.

And the head coach says Rovers must start to apply pressure on their relegation rivals.

“I wouldn’t say there was a lack of passion and desire to get a result for this team,” Mowbray said.

“I think there was a lack of knowledge of where to stand, where to play and how to play, when to play it long and if we’re playing long we have to follow it up and if we’re playing short then we have to create angles to get in positions to move the ball forward.

“We lost composure in the way we played.”

Rovers’ situation looks increasingly bleak after a third consecutive defeat, and positive results for their relegation rivals.

Nottingham Forest, who Rovers travel to on Friday, and Bristol City both recorded wins to move five and four points clear respectively.

A draw for Burton Albion against Aston Villa means Rovers have it all to do in the remaining weeks of the season.

And Mowbray says his side have to try and make it a nervy end to the campaign for their relegation rivals.

“The results of the other clubs do become more pertinent as the games run down, it was obviously a black day for everyone,” he told the club’s official website.

“There were plenty of things that weren’t good but we have to stick together and show the passion which was there was in the dressing room after the game.

“We have five games to go, we have to win as many of those as we possibly can, and we have to win them and bring those teams back closer to us and make the last couple of games nervy for them.

“We know we’re in a difficult situation and let’s see what the future holds.”