Rovers will assess Scott Wharton again today before deciding whether he can be involved in tomorrow night’s game with Millwall.

Daniel Ayala is in line for a recall, and a first start in five weeks, should Wharton be ruled out after coming off in Saturday’s win over Barnsley with a head injury.

The central defender was making his fourth consecutive start in the heart of the Rovers defence, but an assessment by the club doctor following a clash of heads in the second half saw the 23-year-old replaced by Hayden Carter.

Wharton has done a fine job alongside Darragh Lenihan, with Derrick Williams (thigh) soon to return to training and Ayala having been out since the Watford defeat on October 21 with a groin issue.

Asked if the Spaniard was fit should Wharton miss out, Mowbray said: “Yes. Daniel has trained the last few days, he’s fine and ready to rock and roll. We’ll wait and see. 

“It’s going to be a bit about protocols. Daniel Ayala hasn’t done a lot of training over the last month or so but is back training with the group and we’ll make that assessment, as we will with Scott, and see which way we go.

“We have 22 players on the board, but two very young players are in there, one who’s never been in the squad before. But we’re okay, we’re ready to go.”

A decision over Wharton’s involvement will be made by the club doctor, but Mowbray believes concussion injuries are a grey area in the game.

“He seems bright as a button, but I leave those things to the doctor, we’ll see how he gets on today, he looks fine to me but he looked fine after the game,” he added.

“It’s been a big week for head injuries, in the Premier League and then in the Swansea game at Nottingham Forest, but he’s fine, bouncing around.

“The medical people will make a decision. It’s not something you just assess straight away, you go through the protocols to see how he feels and then we’ll see how he is.

“He never blacked out, never lost consciousness, and that’s what I am asking the doctor, ‘is it whether he blacks out or whether he can answer a question and can’t remember something?’

“I bow to the people that have been educated far greater than me, and if the decision is that Scotty is concussed, even if he’s as normal as can be, we’ll have to go by the guidelines.

“If it is concussion then Daniel is fit and will hopefully step in.”

Barry Douglas lasted just 14 minutes of Saturday’s game and will miss out against Millwall, but Mowbray hopes the Leeds United loanee will be back for the weekend trip to Brentford.

Amari’i Bell will therefore make his first start in over a month in place of Douglas at left back.

“Not too bad, but there’s a bit of damage there. I don’t think it’ll be too long,” Mowbray said of Douglas.

“I would hope by the weekend he’ll be back available for selection.

“The more options we have in every position the better for us of course and hopefully Barry gets himself fit very quickly and the scan is suggesting that will be the case.

“We look forward to having those selection issues as we move forward.”

Jacob Davenport meanwhile is in line to return to the squad after missing the Barnsley win with a dead leg. The midfielder caught the eye in his cameo appearance at Preston North End, but a dead leg sustained in training kept him out at the weekend.

“He picked up an injury in training, a dead leg, and missed a few days. He trained yesterday and will be on the grass again today, and will be back involved tomorrow night,” Mowbray said.

“He’s had a tough time in two years he’s been here, he got some game-time (at Preston) and then picked up an injury in training, but it’s only a slight one, he trained yesterday and will today and be back involved tomorrow night.”