TONY Mowbray was delighted to see a professional Blackburn Rovers performance seal a fourth straight win.

Adam Armstrong’s fine strike just before the hour was enough for a 1-0 victory over Derby at Ewood Park which means Rovers are just two points shy of the play-offs in a congested Championship pack.

Rovers got over the line to continue their fine run on the back of three wins in seven days that kickstarted the campaign, Mowbray praising the efforts from back to front as he named the same side for the third game in a row for the first time since January.

“The danger of the game was that we just turned up,” the Rovers boss said.

“People will be saying that winning three in a week we’re doing really well.

“There’s a more light-hearted feel around the training ground and what was important was to make sure that the intensity of the team remained and we understood how we’d been winning football matches.

“The staff worked hard to make sure the intensity was there tonight right from the off against a team with some very talented individuals.

“You look at (Tom) Lawrence and (Duane) Holmes and (Martyn) Waghorn, they are good footballers who can give you problems.

“We managed that. I thought (Corry) Evans was magnificent again, what a shift he’s putting in. (Lewis) Travis puts in a marathon again and then there’s the quality at the back.

“Sometimes managers can be accused of making excuses but (Darragh) Lenihan’s loss through our period of inability to win football matches is very, very apparent. Such a strong personality and such a leader for the team.

“Just the fact he heads the ball back over the halfway line from goal kicks, if we’d had that against Preston from being 2-0 and pretty comfortable that might have been another game we might have won.

“Let’s just keep going, the team at the moment looks okay and we just have to keep building on it.”

The only real criticism Mowbray could level at his team was that they could have made life easier for themselves.

Armstrong missed a fine chance on the stroke of half-time with others coming and going before Christian Walton saved late on from Jack Marriott, in what was the visitors’ only shot on target as they slipped to a fifth straight away defeat without scoring.

“It felt as if we should have made it more comfortable,” Mowbray said.  

“If Adam had taken his chance first half with the rocket he then scored in the second half that probably would have been a better balance on the game for us.

“At 1-0 it’s always dangerous I suppose. Our collective spirit that I’ve talked about has got us through.

“Every team that does alright has to win games 1-0 and see those games out.

“Teams will always have a go in the final five minutes and bombard your box.

“I think we deserved the victory, I think the team controlled big parts of that game really.

“There was good composure and we created good chances, not enough really for the possession that we had.

“We take the points and we move on.”