TONY Mowbray praised his side’s fast start as they made it back-to-back victories with a 4-2 success at Oxford United.

Rovers were 3-0 up inside 23 minutes, with Joe Nuttall adding a fourth in the second period, either side of strikes from Jack Payne and Jon Obika.

The win cemented Rovers’ place in the top six but Mowbray admits he wasn’t totally satisfied with their display, particularly defensively.

He said: “I think there were things that we were pleased about and some things we were a bit unhappy about.

“It’s about getting the points. We had a tough game away from home at the weekend and it was important to start fast and not be one of those teams that has a good day and a bad day.

“It was important to put a marker down early and do that.

“We got our rewards from some dead balls and our pressing. It was a positive start which was important because I knew they were a good team with the ball.

“We dropped a bit off the intensity as the half wore on and you could see they started to pop it through the lines.

“We knew how tough the game was going to be, we started bright, got the goals and managed to control it up to the end.”

On conceding twice, he said: “Very disappointing and we said that in the dressing room.

“I think Corry (Evans) was around the first one and wasn’t at his best, for 45 minutes he was at his best but he was seeing stars when Payne got a yard to hit it.

“The goals were frustrating, but we will get back to clean sheets pretty soon and if you are going to concede goals then it’s good you can score four at the other end.”

Rovers have won their opening two games after the international break and will be looking to make it a hat-trick when they welcome Bristol Rovers to Ewood Park on Saturday.

“We talked about after the international breaks and start-stop opening to the season, after two difficult defeats we have lost two in 15,” Mowbray said.

“It’s okay, if we can reproduce that in the next 15 games then we won’t be far away.

“We need to keep going, looking at the next hurdle infront of us which is Bristol Rovers and then we have another tough one at Blackpool so it’s non-stop.

“We have to make sure the intensity stays there and utilise everyone and they will all have a part to play.

“We have to create a pressure on ourselves to get results and with the greatest of respect to Oxford and Bury we have to believe that we are going there to win those games and the players have to believe it.

“During the matches they are difficult because teams are organised, they are fit and competitive because it’s Blackburn Rovers but we have come through the week pretty well and let’s see if we can finish it off at the weekend.”

Corry Evans, recalled to the starting line-up in place of Peter Whittingham, was taken off six minutes after the re-start.

Mowbray said: “He had a knock and was seeing stars.

“He was dizzy and it was not a game for me to leave him on too long.

“We gave him a few minutes to see how he felt and  he looked a bit shaky so we made that change.”