DARRAGH Lenihan deserves great credit for the speed in which he has settled back into life at the heart of the Rovers defence, according to boss Tony Mowbray.
Lenihan has started each of Rovers’ last three games having come off the bench in the second half of the win at Portsmouth on February 13.
That was the Irishman’s first taste of senior football since the opening day defeat at Southend.
The 23-year-old underwent surgery on a fractured metatarsal in September and, after two Under-23 outings, returned to the first-team scene.
He has slotted in seamlessly alongside skipper Charlie Mulgrew and was at his imposing best in Tuesday’s win at AFC Wimbledon.
And Mowbray was quick to praise Lenihan for the speed of his return to the fold, with Rovers undefeated in the four games since he has returned.
The Rovers boss said: “Darragh is a very focussed lad, focussed on his game and the work he’s done to get himself back to the levels that he’s at is great credit to him.
“From declared fit to playing football matches was quite a short space of time but the level he manages to play at, the power he brings, the timing of his defensive heading and the speed across the ground to cut danger out is there for us all to see.
“I’m delighted he’s back.”
Lenihan’s return along with the January signings of Adam Armstrong, Jack Payne and Amari’i Bell have added increased competition to the Rovers squad.
And Mowbray added: “We looked at the areas we wanted to strengthen and wanted to make sure we didn’t find ourselves light.
“Amari’i Bell, that position where we’ve got Derrick Williams so you might sit there thinking ‘why are we bringing another left-back in?’
“You need quality to replace quality, you need competition and need players that whoever you pick it’s not going to weaken the team.
“Then they have to compete every day in training and I have to make the decision that don’t ultimately don’t affect the team winning football matches.
“It’s not because they’re not very good or working hard enough it’s because I can only pick 11.
“They have to bide their time and await their time.”
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