Tony Mowbray believes positive results in his first 15 games in charge demonstrate he inherited some good players at the club.

But the boss wouldn’t be drawn on whether he is looking to bring a member of his 2016/17 crop in Sam Gallagher back to the club in January.

Corry Evans became the latest player to commit his long-term to Rovers after signing a new contract, following from Elliott Bennett and Charlie Mulgrew.

The trio were signed by three different managers, while of the 10 players to have played the most minutes for Rovers this season, seven are players inherited by Mowbray.

Although Rovers were unable to stave off relegation in 2017 despite 22 points from their final 15 games, he said: “They showed me they are good players.

“We only lost three of 15 games at the end of that season and accrued 51 points.

“I have a belief in them that they work really hard and they have quality.

“When you have good characters and personalities then you shouldn’t try and get rid of that.

“We just had to try and build on that, add to that.

“Moving forward what we have tried to do is keep adding quality to it and see where it’s take us.”

Rovers are understood to have tried to bring Gallagher to the club in the summer window without success.

The 23-year-old, who scored 12 times during his previous season-long loan spell, has struggled for fitness this season, playing just 20 minutes of senior football for the Saints in the Carabao Cup, and only once for the Saints’ Under-23s.

With Rovers keen to add to their attacking ranks in January, Gallagher is thought to have come under consideration for a possible Ewood return.

Mowbray’s attacking options have been weakened by a knee injury to Dominic Samuel in August which is set to keep him out for the remainder of the season, while Rovers are keen to get 21-year-old Joe Nuttall gain further experience out on loan.

“Southampton have just got a new manager and I’m assuming he will be assessing each player,” Mowbray said.

“I don’t think they’ll be in any great rush to push anyone out of the door.

“That team that I inherited, however long ago it was I generally liked that team.

“The points accrued was pretty good.

“It’s about building a team, building a club.

“Let’s see how much we have to spend in January, whether we are going down the loan route or looking to sign some permanent players.”

Mowbray is always keen to strengthen his squad where possible, with Rovers currently 11th in the table ahead of today’s visit of Birmingham City.

Rovers face a particularly difficult festive period, with today’s game followed by matches against the current top three in the division, with fifth-placed West Brom due in East Lancashire on New Year’s Day.

But having fared well against those riding high in the division, Mowbray added: “We should look forward to the games we have before then (January).

“We have some big challenges.

“After Birmingham we have the current top three, Norwich, Leeds and Sheffield United.

“That’s a big challenge so I’m not focussing on the January window and I’m thinking about that.”