Adam Armstrong will make his 150th appearance under Tony Mowbray at Wigan today – almost four years on since the attacker marked game number one with a stunning double against the Latics.

The pair were then at Coventry, Armstrong a fresh faced 18-year-old signed on a season-long loan deal from Newcastle, handed the No.9 shirt and entrusted with trying to fire the Sky Blues to promotion.

They narrowly missed out on a play-off spot, Armstrong finishing the season with 20 goals in 40 games, before the pair were reunited at Rovers where the signing of the speedy forward in January 2018 helped Rovers over the line and back in to the Championship.

All but nine of Armstrong’s 60 career goals have come while playing under Mowbray, and Armstrong said: “It’s having those different experiences, and being with the gaffer for 150 games is huge.

“When I first met him at Coventry he gave me that confidence to play my own game and go out there and do what I do.

“I was only 18, going down to Coventry and not knowing what to expect, and he gave me that confidence by giving me the No.9 shirt.

“I wanted to prove to everyone that I could play in these leagues, having come from Under-23s football, and I’m happy that I did that and I’m here today.

“It’s great to still be with him now, we’re working well together and he’s got the squad he wants and we’re all pulling together.”

There were eyebrows raised when Armstrong, Rovers’ top scorer with 13 goals this season, was left on the bench for the visit of Bristol City last weekend.

It was later revealed that being forced to self-isolate had set him back 10 days, but he showed no signs of rustiness or fatigue as he came off the bench to seal the win with a fine finish.

His involvement in the squad kept up a fine record which has seen him feature in 103 of Rovers’ last 104 league games.

Despite the positive test last month, Armstrong remained asymptomatic, and has built up his fitness, and sharpness, during another week of training.

“It’s been tough. I came back in the first week and then tested positive and had to have 10 days at home,” he explained.

“It wasn’t the same. I was training every day on my treadmill but there’s only a certain amount of things you can do.

“The gaffer made the decision to leave me out, because of the 10 days I’d had off as I get my sharpness back, but I feel good this week, been training hard and will hopefully start on Saturday.

“If not, do the same again.”

A positive test forced the 23-year-old in to isolation, but displaying no symptoms, was still able to work on his fitness, albeit not quite to the same levels as had he been in full training.

“That was the hard thing. Testing positive you think you’re going to get some symptoms, but I felt nothing. I felt completely normal, myself, and it’s one of those things that I just had to stick to the guidelines,” he added.

“We came back in groups of five and I tested positive three days before everyone was coming back together training, so that was pretty tough to take, but I had to get on with it and do everything right.

“I feel good, I’ve kept ticking over, but it’s getting that match sharpness. To get 30 minutes was huge.

“I just have to keep working hard on the training pitch and doing those extra runs.”

Armstrong heads to one of his former loan clubs, Barnsley, with Rovers next week, but is looking to emulate another, Coventry City, in securing promotion.

“They’re a great club, massive club, so it will be nice to have them back in the Championship. It’s great for all the fans as well,” he said.

It’s in-form Wigan up first for Rovers however, Armstrong having scored in the Ewood meeting in March 2018 as the pair battled for the League One title.

Today marks the start of a busy schedule, the DW trip the first of eight games in the space of 25 days.

Rovers remain in the hunt for a play-off spot, boosted by last weekend’s win over Bristol City, but are yet to crack the top six in either of the last two seasons.

Having fallen away last season, Armstrong is eager for that to not happen again, revealing everyone is desperate to make the most of the opportunity they have.

“Last season we drifted off a bit towards the end,” he said.

“Now we’re kicking on, we’ve got that experience, everyone is gelling together, working hard, and the squad we’ve got is really good and let’s hope everyone can keep pushing each other to get that sixth spot.

“We’ve got tough games coming up, but we always know that in the Championship.

“If we can get in the play-off spots by the end of the season we’d be buzzing, it’s everything we’re looking to achieve.

“If we could get to the Premier League it’d be incredible and hopefully we can do that.”

Armstrong will be hoping to pull out his trademark ‘Angel of the North’ celebration a few more times before the season is out – even if it is to empty stands.

“It was pretty weird, but I always said I was going to do it no matter what and will have to stick to it, I think,” he said.