Charlie Mulgrew is in contention to replace the suspended Darragh Lenihan as Tony Mowbray accepts moving Ryan Nyambe from right back would see Rovers lose an attacking outlet.

Mowbray said he would make the final call on who would fill in at centre half during training yesterday with Lenihan to miss the next two games after picking up a 10th yellow card of the season in midweek.

Natural replacement Derrick Williams remains out with a calf problem, having also struggled with illness this week, opening the door for the possibility of Mulgrew making a first appearance since the opening day of the season.

The 33-year-old cut short his loan spell at Wigan Athletic to return to Rovers last month, but is yet to feature in a matchday squad.

Of his possible involvement, Mowbray said: “He’s in contention with everyone else. I said to Charlie when he came back from Wigan, everyone has to work hard, train hard and be part of our football club.

“It would be wrong of me to exclude anybody, and I wouldn’t do that, it’s not in my personality.

“Every player trains with us every day and work hard and then I pick the team on the back of that.

“We have some options and we’ll try and pick the option that gives the team the best chance to win.”

Rovers went without a recognised central defender on the bench against Stoke, with 20-year-old Hayden Carter having got his first taste of the matchday squad in away games at Charlton and Brentford.

Lenihan has started every game for Rovers since returning from an ankle injury in November and has struck up a good partnership with Tosin Adarabioyo in the heart of the back four.

The Irishman has taken over the captain’s armband of late, with Elliott Bennett having not started in the league since New Year’s Day, but he could return at right back this afternoon, should Mowbray opt to move Ryan Nyambe inside to partner Adarabioyo.

Nyambe has become one of the side’s main attacking outlets from right back, and while Mowbray acknowledges there are aspects of his game that still need improvement, says moving the Namibia international in to central defence would impact the team in an attacking sense.

“If I did do that it would be a loss to the team,” he said.

“I think Ryan is doing exceptionally well, there are aspects of his game that he needs to improve, that final ball in to the box when he gets behind teams.

“We can talk all we want about Alexander-Arnold and shows him clips of a world class right back and how he delivers balls in to the box.

“Ryan is coming on leaps and bounds, he’s an exceptionally hard working, dedicated footballer who has a big future.

“We will look at it in training and decide the best option for the team and hopefully get it right.”

Rovers recorded a 12th clean sheet of the season in the draw with Stoke City, equalling last season’s tally, with still 11 games to play.

An improvement in the goals against column has been key to ensuring Rovers remain in the play-off picture in the final quarter of the season, having shipped 69 goals in their 46 games last term.

Only Leeds and Derby have conceded fewer home goals than Rovers’ 14, and after another shut-out against Stoke, Mowbray said: “We managed to add another good clean sheet to the tally which takes us up to 12 for the season.

“We’ve improved massively in terms of clean sheets if you compare it to last season and yet, I didn’t feel that we were massively under threat from Stoke, despite our defensive concentration being good.

“We’ll see if we can find a way, particularly against Swansea, to keep them away from our goal in Darragh’s absence. The suspension is a huge blow.

“He’s our captain, he’s been a warrior for us and the combination he’s had with Adarabioyo has been really strong and has given us a platform to win games from.

“That partnership will now be broken, of course, but we need to see if we can get the job done with who replaces Darragh.”