Defensively poor and players under par was Tony Mowbray’s final words on Saturday’s defeat at Preston.

But the boss admits he is willing to brush it under the carpet so long as it’s not repeated when Rovers travel to Wigan tomorrow.

Mowbray’s men were beaten 4-1 by their local rivals at Deepdale, conceding twice in the opening 10 minutes which left them with a mountain to climb.

The boss described the defensive mistakes as uncharacteristic after the match, and three days on, had the same assessment.

“There were certain players under par. Defensively we weren’t at our usual standards,” he said.

“After the game I said it was uncharacteristic and I think that’s probably the right word for it.

“I also said to the group that while they felt my frustration after the game they have a lot of credit in the bank.

“Footballers every now and then can have a bad game and I can brush it under the carpet as long as it’s not repeated in the next match.

“Defensively we were really poor. I thought we controlled the game for long spells after that, whether they let us have the ball because they were 2-0 up, maybe, but they were wasting time from 10 minutes in. Would we have done the same? Maybe.

“It was frustrating because we had a lot of the ball, I think we created enough chances to get back in to it, two free headers in the six yard box that didn’t go in, there keeper made two good saves, but then we got back in to it just after half time.

“We scored a perfectly good goal that was ruled out for offside and the game ran away from us a little bit.

“It could have been a different story but the score is there in the history books and we move on to the next one.”

However, Mowbray said that accusations of a possible lack of intensity in the opening stages were wide of the mark.

He added: “We had a mountain to climb after 10 minutes of the game.

“I don’t think there was a lack of urgency or intensity.

“When the bell rings and we get ready it was the same as it always has been.

“They are a good set of lads, they understand they have to start games fast. If anything it might have been too intense.

“Breaking down the first goal, Lenihan is in a good defensive position, he comes charging out to try and make a challenge, it gets nicked around the corner, cut-back and they scored. If he had stayed where he was then there’d have been no danger.

“If anything they were a bit uptight and probably should have calmed down a little bit and let the game unfold infront of them.

“It’s easy to say ‘they weren’t ready because they were 2-0 down after 10 minutes’ but I know that’s not the case because I work with this group every day and I know they were ready for the game.”