Tony Mowbray says the international break will allow Rovers to take ‘a gulp of air’ after a run of seven games in 21 days

In the six matches between the September and October international breaks Rovers claimed nine points from two wins and three draws.

That was an identical record to the first six matches of the campaign as they settled in to life in the Championship after promotion.

There were just three weeks of action between the first and second international breaks, which took in six league fixtures and a Carabao Cup tie at Bournemouth. Rovers return to action with a home game against Leeds United on October 20 and Mowbray is looking forward to the break.

“You have to put in to context that it’s the second international break in a month,” the boss said.

“We reacted all right after the first one.

“Sometimes I feel as if we’re playing with our foot flat to the gas, giving everything we’ve got in every game, because it’s been three games a week.

“It’s not necessarily a bad thing to take a big gulp of air and let any injuries settle down and players who’ve been playing at their maximum can take a few days off. We can have some light days training and in among it have some tough days training so their fitness levels stay high.

“Then in the second week it’s just like the preparation for a Saturday-Saturday game. Then we have Leeds United which is a massive test for us and one we should all be looking forward to. I don’t see it (the break) being a negative for us.

“We should then prepare for a team that are around the top of the table.”

Rovers returned from the last international break with three tough fixtures in the space of seven days against Aston Villa, Derby and Stoke.

The outlook looks just as testing on their return this time, with trips to Swansea City and West Bromwich Albion following the Leeds clash.

But the upcoming schedule is one Mowbray says his players should relish and is why they worked so hard for promotion from League One last term.

“We have Leeds United at home who will be bringing close to 8,000 supporters and I saw them at Hull City (a 1-0 win) and they looked an extremely impressive football team,” Mowbray said.

“That will be a difficult game for us followed by Swansea and West Bromwich Albion away, two teams in the Premier League last season.

“So we have difficult games coming up but as I’ve said these are ones we should be looking forward to.

“It’s a lot different from going to AFC Wimbledon, Rochdale and Bury so we should enjoy the atmosphere of going to these teams and trying to compete.

“I think we have competed, we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves with ambitions other than the fact we have come in to this league and want to make ourselves a team that when other teams come along they know they will have a tough match.”