Ben Brereton’s absence from the matchday squad for Rovers’ draw with Preston was due to Harry Chapman being preferred, according to Tony Mowbray.

Brereton started Rovers’ previous two matches, defeats to Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest, but didn’t make the squad at the weekend.

With Danny Graham returning after illness, and Joe Rothwell dropping out of the starting line-up, Mowbray faced a choice between Brereton and Chapman for the final attacking space on the bench.

And the manager said Chapman’s individuality saw him get the nod despite being fully fit and reporting to Ewood for the game.

Mowbray said there were ‘no problems’ with the 20-year-old who is the source of loan interest from Dutch Eredivisie side ADO Den Haag.

“No problems, it was just the individuality we were looking for,” Mowbray said of his decision.

“We could have stuck him out there, left him, give him the ball and see what we can do.

“It was just the type of footballer.”

Corry Evans was carried off on a stretcher just five minutes in to the game, suffering a suspected broken nose and cheekbone, with Bradley Johnson taking his place.

And captain Elliott Bennett was the second switch early in the second period as Ryan Nyambe limped out with a hamstring problem.

That left Mowbray with just one more alteration to make, with Graham replacing Lewis Holtby for the final 20 minutes.

That saw both Chapman and Joe Rothwell remain unused, and Mowbray admits there was a sense of disappointment about his hand being forced when it came to his substitutions.

He added: “Manager’s generally have substitutions pre-planned in their mind at certain times with how the game is going on.

“If we’re winning and need to clog things up we can do this is, if we need a goal then we can do that.

“Chapman was on the bench in case we needed something in the last 20 minutes, Rothwell was unlucky not to start.

“Danny Graham came on because as the weather deteriorated I felt we needed to play forward more and up and around their box.

“We got those things taken away from us, the changes we wanted to make to try and win the game.

“But as I’ve said to them, they’re all involved,  whether they’re starting, on the bench, or don’t make the 18, you’ve all got to be positive.”