Rovers have plenty of credit in the bank, but that shouldn’t deflect from what was a chastening Lancashire derby day defeat at Deepdale.

While each of their six wins this season have come by a one goal margin, their four defeats have been by two goals or more.

Defend as they did here and it is easy to see why, with the game getting away from them in the closing stages, rounding off a performance which couldn't have started any worse.

Rovers had a two week build up to this game but were blown away in the opening 10 minutes.

It was possibly that length of build-up that made Tony Mowbray possibly over think his approach having studied the opposition so much during the international break.

The boss admitted last month he felt he was a striker short, and in a bid to counteract that with Danny Graham not deemed fit enough to start, he went with Kasey Palmer as the most advanced player.

Graham proved his worth, with a goal three minutes after coming on to haul Rovers back in to the game.

But in Mowbray’s defence, and judging by the performances in each half, Rovers did in fact look a lot more threatening in the opening 45 minutes.

They key for Rovers though has to be to find a way of best utilising the talents of talisman Bradley Dack, and while he struggled to make an impact, he did go close twice in the first half, drawing two smart saves from Declan Rudd at 2-0, the first with a header from Elliott Bennett’s cross and the second from a deflected shot.

Rudd was also at full stretch to keep out a dipping Charlie Mulgrew free kick, while both Darragh Lenihan and Palmer should have done better with headers from set plays.

That was Rovers’ response to a whirlwind 10 minutes in which they conceded twice.

Alan Browne, instrumental for the hosts all afternoon, nipped in ahead of Lenihan before squaring for Tom Barkhuizen to sweep home.

Caught out down the opposite flank moments later, Ryan Nyambe did well to block from Callum Robinson, but couldn’t keep track of the winger moments later as he broke in behind before firing across David Raya and in to the corner for 2-0.

It was a case of if, not when, Graham was introduced. And within three minutes of his half time arrival he hauled Rovers back in to the game with a trademark header from a wide free kick delivered by Harrison Reed, one of the fewer Rovers players to emerge with credit.

The hope, kicking towards their bank of 5,500 fans, was that it would prove to be the fillip needed to kick on. But unfortunately, that began to fizzle out, not helped by some weak refereeing, as a Bennett long-ranger apart, the expected siege didn’t materialise.

Instead, it was the hosts who seized back the initiative with two goals in 11 minutes as much like their previous two away defeats, the game ran away Rovers.

Derrick Williams was shown a clean set of heels by Barkhuizen, with Louis Moult on hand to turn in after a Brandon Barker shot deflected in to his path.

Browne, creator of the first two goals, got his name on the scoresheet four minutes from time, hooking in on his left foot as the Rovers defence went wandering.

An even bigger disappointment for Rovers was a goal wrongly disallowed for offside as Ben Brereton turned the ball home 60 seconds after Moult made it 3-1, denying them the chance of setting up a grandstand finish.

As it was, Rovers, and their army of fans, were ready for home from the moment Browne’s fourth goal found the back of the net.

So while there are questions to answer (does anyone have Sam Gallagher's number?), the credit Rovers have, given they haven't lost back-to-back league games since April, means they should be afforded some patience to bounce back on Wednesday.