Finding a way to win while off the pace was pleasing for boss Tony Mowbray who insists Rovers must improve for their trio of tests within the next week.

Rovers snatched victory against Millwall courtesy of a 90th minute Adam Armstrong goal, his 14th of an increasingly impressive season, as they made it six games unbeaten.

Mowbray’s men have now chalked up three consecutive Championship wins for the first time in almost a year to move within four points of the summit.

However, they sit ninth, and face three sides above them in the league within the next week, with Saturday’s trip to Brentford followed by an away game at Bristol City before hosting leaders Norwich City next Saturday.

That will be a test of their credentials as they look to put together a sustained promotion charge this season, and Mowbray says they will need more than they produced against Millwall.

Mowbray felt his side were off the pace for much of the game against the Lions who had earlier seen Scott Malone cancel out Harvey Elliott’s fine opener.

But after extending their unbeaten run, Mowbray said: “We’re delighted that they found a way to win, but ultimately we have to be better if we’re genuinely going to challenge.

“We found a way to win. I genuinely felt we looked a bit jaded, they were off the pace of where we can get to with the intensity.

“The winning goal was a bit better, Rothwell winning the ball back and then five seconds later it’s in their net.

“I didn’t think we could do that for the majority of the game until we made the changes.

“It’s not a surprise to have a jaded performance on the back of all the games and how they keep coming.

“There’s lots to work on and we have some tough games coming up on the back of this run.”

Bournemouth, Watford and Swansea City are three of the teams to beat Rovers this season, all doing so while playing with a back three.

Millwall arrived at Ewood with a similar formation and proved tough to break down, while their wing-backs enjoyed plenty of joy while going forward, with Malone equalising within 10 minutes of Elliott’s strike.

Rovers remained consistent in their 4-3-3 shape, with a new role in the midfield three for Elliott as Sam Gallagher was brought in as Mowbray made four changes.

Joe Rothwell was one player to be rested, something Mowbray says fans should come to expect with eight fixtures to play in December.

“Lots of teams are playing three at the back and with two strikers, we’re coming up against lots of different formations, and we’re trying to have a consistency,” he added.

“I think what we’ve found is that we’re probably not good enough just to play how we want to play and dominate the game, we have to adjust because there are a lot of well coached teams in this division that can give you problems.

“We have games that will test where we are, Brentford away, Bristol City away, Norwich at home, three pretty tough games on paper, so we’ll see where we are after them.

“We’ll take the points, know that we weren’t at our best, and see what Saturday brings.”

Rovers have often this season not got what they have deserved from games, particularly in away defeats at Bournemouth and Watford, and for that reason, Mowbray says they must take the points however they come in matches.

He added: “We’ve had some pretty good performances, particularly away from home at Bournemouth and Watford, and got nothing when we were really good. On a day like today let’s put the points in the bag, knowing we’ll be better, and move on.”