PETER Whittingham came through his first 90 minutes in a month for Rovers against Gillingham, an important milestone according to boss Tony Mowbray.

Whittingham was handed his first Rovers start of September in the 1-0 win over the Gills at Ewood Park.

The 32-year-old summer signing was preferred to Corry Evans alongside Richie Smallwood in the centre of the Rovers midfield in what was his first league start since August 12, before being switched to the right in the latter stages.

He has been consigned to a watching brief for Rovers in recent weeks, but substitute appearances at Shrewsbury Town and against Rotherham United in recent weeks were enough for him to be recalled to the starting XI.

And Mowbray said: “It was important for Peter.

“He’s had a frustrating time, he’s a good pro, he understands my thoughts and we talk about football a lot.

“While he is frustrated and wants to play, when you have been at one club for over 10 years and you make a move, I think you have to acclimatise to the environment, different players, different voices, different training and he has had to acclimatise to a different way of doing things.

“We have tried to drip him back in to things and his quality is unquestioned.

“Moving forward, on days when we can get him in central midfield and he can keep spraying the ball around and try and put it in to killer areas to finish teams off.

“Let’s see how we move on how he fares.”

Whittingham started the last Checkatrade Trophy tie against Stoke City Under-21s on August 29. Prior to the weekend, that was his last full game in a Rovers shirt, having also completed 90 minutes on the opening day defeat at Southend United on August 5.

His outing on Saturday against Gillingham could mean it is a watching brief for Whittingham tomorrow evening, though he would add some welcome experience to the side should he feature alongside West Brom loanee Rekeem Harper in the middle of midfield, with Corry Evans away on international duty, and Richie Smallwood set to be rested.