PETER Whittingham could be set to hand Rovers a boost having returned to training this week.

Whittingham has been sidelined with a calf injury which forced him off in the win at Peterborough United on December 9.

But the 33-year-old is in contention to return against Northampton Town this weekend and increase Tony Mowbray's options in the middle of the park.

Elsewhere, Mowbray reports no new injuries while Elliott Bennett will serve the final match of his four game ban.

“It is positive news on Peter Whittingham who has trained twice this week. Other than that it’s just the longer term ones who aren’t back on the grass yet.

“Apart from earlier in the week there were a few that had the sniffles but generally we’re in good order and good form and looking forward to the weekend.

“We’ve had a four day build up to this game, the players have had a good break, they look really sharp and then after that it’s about getting them rested up and watching some videos, their strengths and weaknesses and moving forward.

“The first challenge we need to focus on is Northampton and hopefully we can find a performance this weekend that asks enough questions and hopefully gets us the points.”