ROVERS boss Tony Mowbray admits he was somewhat limited to the side that he could play in the Carabao Cup defeat to Burnley.

Mowbray made five changes to his side, handing first starts to Harry Chapman, Ben Gladwin and Marcus Antonsson.

Liam Feeney and Peter Whittingham were the other two players introduced, with Mowbray sticking with the same back five from the 1-0 win at Bradford last Saturday.

With injuries to four members of his squad, and Craig Conway and Corry Evans still working their way back to full fitness, Mowbray says he was limited to the changes he could make, with one eye on the home game with MK Dons.

“There were no other options to pick,” Mowbray told the Lancashire Telegraph.

“If we had more defenders maybe we would have played more defenders.

“If we had (Ryan) Nyambe, (Darragh) Lenihan, (Bradley) Dack, we might have played them, but at this moment in time they are not available.

“I’m not sure who else we could have picked.

“Young Jack Doyle was on the bench and after that it would have been debuts.

“We could have picked the same team as at Bradford but we could have struggled with the energy levels for the MK Dons game.

“And I do feel as though we need to play with some energy and drive at home because we have to try and make this place a fortress, not a place where the players fear because of any negativity.

“We need to play on the front foot.”

Rovers failed to manage a single shot on target against Burnley, but Mowbray added: “We played against a very hard-working, well organised Premier League side who can ngive teams problems and can win matches as they did at Stamford Bridge a fortnight ago.

“I don't think we need to be too hard on ourselves.

“I have to deal with the expectation of the fanbase. We tried hard, we worked hard, we had a game-plan.

“The fans wanted to see strikers on the pitch but if you put more strikers on the pitch you could lose those games by a lot of goals and you feel the disappointment afterwards.

“I thought the team competed extremely well. I thought young Chapman at times showed little flashes of how fast and direct he can be.

“How many shots did we have on target at Bradford yet we won the football match. It’s not about having 20 shots on goal, it’s about winning the game, and there are a lot of ways of winning a game.”

The result will have come as a big disappointment to the Rovers fans, as Burnley extended their unbeaten run in this fixture to seven games.

And Mowbray admits the two league difference between the two sides was clear to see at times.

“Our objective was to compete with Burnley for our support base and try and win the game,” he said.

“I know the fans will be disappointed because of the rivalry but the reality is that we are League One at this moment in the history of the club and they are Premier League with £130m every season they stay there.

“We have to take it on the chin and try and work our way back to a position where we can be more competitive.”