Having seen Bradley Dack mark his milestone appearance with a goal, Rovers will be hoping for the same from Adam Armstrong at QPR as he prepares for his 200th career appearance, one short of a half century of goals.

Just 22, Armstrong has been vindicated in his decision to leave boyhood club Newcastle United to seek regular football, having not missed a game for Rovers since signing on loan in January 2018.

Much of the talk around Armstrong now focuses on his position within the Rovers side, used sparingly as an out-and-out striker, preferred as one of Mowbray’s ‘wide strikers’ .

Two goals in three games have shown what he can offer, cutting inside and curling home from 25 yards at Reading, before demonstrating his blistering his pace en route to netting against Nottingham Forest.

In all, Armstrong has played 120 of his 199 career appearances under Mowbray, whether that be during a prolific loan spell at Coventry in 2015/16, or Ewood Park. And while Mowbray sees Armstrong’s future as a central striker, the threat he can offer from the wide areas is something the boss looks set to persist with, believing there is plenty more growth in a player signed for £1.75m.

He explained: “I think Adam enjoys his football and ultimately he will want to play centre forward moving forward.

“I think most footballers just want to play and I think Adam understands our predicament. Aerobically he can do the job of a wide player, he can run up and down all night, but he fantastic acceleration and burst of speed.

“For us, it’s good to be able to look at the opposition and think whether Adam will be better on the left or the right, or where we’re going to get the most from him.

“He’s learning, there’s lots of growth in him, when to stand still and receive the ball and when to run in to the space like he did for the goal the other night.

“It’s just an understanding that he can’t always run without the ball, sometimes you have to get the ball to feet, and I think that balance is coming for him.

“I think he would like to score more goals than he has, because he’s been a No.9 since he was a kid, but keep doing the work with him and see him improve as he does the work.”

Goals had been hard to come by for Armstrong since being named Championship player of the month in January, his strike at Reading just his second in 27 matches.

But he is very much a streaky player, scoring nine goals in nine matches during his loan spell at the club in 2017/18 as well as his excellent new year run.

“He does what he needs to do and if he can add goals, because that’s what he is naturally, a goalscorer, he can score bundles and bundles of goals,” he added.

“You look at the example of (Raheem) Sterling, he’s a wide player, an exceptionally good player, but has added goals to his game, gets in the box at the far post, he’s always at the back stick ready

“If Adam can add that to his game, scoring tap-ins at the far post as we’re whipping balls in then there will come a time when his main job is scoring goals because he’ll be the centre forward for this club I’m sure, playing on people’s shoulders and diving in behind getting slipped in.

“The one time I had him for a whole season at Coventry playing as a centre forward he got 20 goals so he has that in his locker.

“At the moment he’s doing a great job for us out wide, either side, because of the number of forwards we’ve got at this club.

“I would hope he’s enjoying football. It’s his 200th career appearance, for someone who’s 22 that’s not a bad number.”