Since Tony Mowbray took charge, Rovers have largely named strong teams in the cup competitions, and it appears that doesn’t look set to change at Birmingham City in the FA Cup third round.

Mowbray says he doesn’t envisage ‘mass changes’ despite Rovers playing a fifth game in the space of 13 days when they travel to St Andrew’s in round three of the competition.

Ben Brereton is set to keep his place in attack, while Harry Chapman will be itching for a start on the wing, but with numbers stretched because of injuries over the festive period, Mowbray expects it to be a similar group as to the one which travelled to Nottingham Forest on New Year’s Day.

“I don’t envisage it being a game where I make mass changes and play a load of kids and give a few debuts,” the boss explained.

“Winning games is a confidence thing, we need to go there and be positive and try and get a victory if we can.

“I think the FA Cup is exciting, I look forward to the draw and seeing where it takes you. We’ll be going to Birmingham as positive as we can and trying to win the match.

“My mindset is that we have a week after this. This is a Saturday game and our next game is next Saturday and after that it’s the Saturday.

“At some stage you have to decide what you want to do. If you’re resting players, and they played on New Year’s Day, then you’re giving them 10 days break before the next game.

“My mindset is let’s have one last push, try and stay in the FA Cup, give it our best shot, that doesn’t mean I’ll be playing my A strength team, I have to be mindful of certain players and their ages who have played a certain number of games.

“But we will go and be positive and see how we get on.”

Stewart Downing could be set for a rest, with the 35-year-old playing three of the four festive matches, despite having outlined to Mowbray he would be happy to feature.

He added: “I saw him at the breakfast table, I ask him how he feels he and he says ‘great, gaffer’.

“I don’t know if that’s planned, or how he really feels, because I sometimes see him rubbing the outside of his knee. When we signed him we knew he’d had a bit of wear and tear on the outside of one of his knees.

“But he trains every day, doesn’t use anything as an excuse. I think he’s a shining light.

“I watched his performance and by a millions miles he was the best player on the pitch at Nottingham Forest.  The game seems to go in to slow motion when he’s on the ball, as if he can take as much time to do what he wants with it. He picks the right pass just about every time.

“I leave those decisions to Stewart, how he’s feeling. Let’s wait and see whether he plays, or where we fit him in the team, because he’s shown his versatility over recent weeks. He can play anywhere.

 “I ask the senior players how they’re playing, generally they say ‘okay’ but you can see in their eyes. You have to read their body language.

“We’ll pick a team who gives us the best chance of progressing in the cup.”