Tony Mowbray says Rovers have the options to deal with their growing injury list, believing the draw at West Brom to have been ‘unusual circumstances’.

Rovers ended the game with no recognised goalkeeper or central defender but held on for a point.

Mowbray’s men were without Ryan Nyambe and Darragh Lenihan going in to the game and lost Charlie Mulgrew and Jack Rodwell to injury in the opening hour with Derrick Williams and Lewis Travis finishing the game in central defence.

When asked if he felt Rovers were light on numbers, Mowbray said: “As you saw last Saturday central defence looked pretty empty when we ended with two left backs and a midfield player in Travis.

“Lenihan, Mulgrew, Rodwell all being injured left us light in that position.

“We have Paul Downing who didn’t make the bench that day, and while it’s easy in hindsight, it’s rare that both centre halves have to come off in a game and we had Amari’i (Bell) so knew we could always push Derrick inside if we had a problem with one of them.

“There were unusual circumstances last weekend.

“I’m hopeful the injury situation isn’t as bad as it looks outwardly.”

Rovers have options in midfield, helped by a return to fitness of summer signing Jacob Davenport, while Elliott Bennett could move in to his more natural position out wide having been filling in at right back in Nyambe’s absence.

Mowbray made five changes last weekend, and could make a similar number tomorrow to revert back to a more familiar starting line-up.

“Most weeks I’ve got good choices, but good choices for you are difficult choices for me,” the boss added.

“I’m trying to make sure everyone feels a part of what we’re trying to achieve but also show loyalty and respect to people who have done a job for us over the piece and given them the opportunity to keep doing that.

“I have to be mindful that footballers need to play, they need to be given encouragement and know they are important to the group, whether that be 10 or 20 minutes at the end.

“That’s the balance for a coach, to pick teams and give them a logic.

“As long as I explain the logic and they understand it and the reasons why then they accept it and get on with it.”

Rovers went without a central striker against the Baggies, with Danny Graham, Ben Brereton and Adam Armstrong all on the bench.

But Mowbray says there is flexibility in attack, despite utilising Brereton out wide so far this term.

He said: “We have Adam Armstrong, I think Kasey Palmer can play up front because he has the physicality and technical ability, we have (Joe) Nuttall, we’re okay. I just feel that we are light of a certain type of centre forward.

“While I didn’t mention Ben in that, he’s 19 and having watched him in training he’s probably more suited to playing off one of the sides, either left or right, rather than down the middle.

“As time moves on that will change I’m sure and Ben sees himself as a centre forward longer term.”

“Brereton and Armstrong in a year or so could be a pretty mobile, athletic, fast, dynamic strike force but at this moment we have Graham and Dack and if they are both fit and at it, they have this telepathic understanding, they like each other’s company, they want to play with each other and I think it’s been pretty potent for us.

“They have both scored goals this season and when that option is available to us it’s one I normally go back to.”