Rovers need to make perfect their practice, according to Tony Mowbray, after seeing his side struggle to fashion opportunities in the defeat at Leeds United.

Mowbray says the quality he sees on the training pitch needs to be replicated in games if Rovers are to see the fine margins go in their favour.

The Leeds reverse was their fifth in eight matches, four of which have been by a one-goal margin, with one win and two draws completing the sequence.

And with a bit more guile and creativity, Mowbray feels they could be looking at a much healthier return of points than they have been able to chalk up.

The boss says he can see signs of positive intent in training, but wants opponents to feel his side’s quality on matchday.

“I said to the lads in the dressing room at the end, that we have to execute what we practice in training, in the real scenarios,” Mowbray explained.

“It’s alright practicing around the box throughout the week, but we need to find that little bit of quality in order to make the difference on matchdays, because in tight games, we need to make the opposition feel our quality in the final third and we’ve got some talented players who should be able to do that.

“It didn’t quite happen for us in and around their box.”

Mowbray stuck with the same XI at Elland Road that had beaten Sheffield Wednesday seven days earlier, his first unchanged team since January, having only done so on five occasions last season.

There was a slight tweak, with Stewart Downing moving out to the left wing, with Adam Armstrong switching to the right as Rovers fans got a first sight of Lewis Holtby in a deeper-lying central midfield role.

With Bradley Dack tucked in behind Sam Gallagher, Mowbray felt there was more than enough ammunition on the pitch to create more than they did, scoring with their sole shot on target as Derrick Williams headed in a Downing corner.

But Mowbray acknowledged Leeds’ defensive record, conceding just three times in front of their own fans before the weekend, as something of a factor in his side’s struggles.

“I thought the right qualities of the team were there, but we just lacked the craft and guile needed to create clear chances, despite having the likes of Dack and Holtby who should bring that quality and craft,” the boss explained.

“At times, we just couldn’t retain the ball well enough in order to ask the questions of them in the attacking third.

“Adam (Armstrong) is one who needs to adapt that quality of staying with the ball, because he can’t expect to keep running away from it, bursting in-behind defenders expecting to be played through with one pass every time.

“Although it looks amazing when he bursts behind people when the ball is played ahead of him, he has to learn to stay with the ball a bit more, at times.”

Mowbray used all three substitutes in a bid to change the game, sending on Danny Graham on the hour mark and then midfield pair John Buckley and Corry Evans as part of a double switch with 20 minutes to go.

Buckley had been the hero of the hour with his injury-time winner against Wednesday seven days earlier, and Mowbray said the decision to send on the 20-year-old was due to his ability on the ball.

“That was one of the reasons why I put Buckley on,” he added.

“He tends to stay with the ball and draw fouls, while also sucking opposition players in and having that quality to pop the ball around them, which is what you need to do when you’re trying to break down a defence.

“We’ll keep working on it.”