Rovers must keep Adam Armstrong fit – the simple message from Tony Mowbray as the striker scored his 50th goal for the club with a last-gasp winner against Millwall.

A milestone goal for Armstrong, who first joined the club on loan in January 2018, handed Rovers a third consecutive Championship win which leaves them just four points off the top of the table.

Armstrong has now scored 15 times this season, his 14th in the Championship ensuring a hat-trick of wins within a week to continue Rovers’ push for the top six.

The 23-year-old missed the 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough last month with a hamstring issue, while he was seen stretching his hip flexor just as Rovers were preparing a triple substitution on Wednesday night.

Armstrong indicated he was fine to continue however, and proved his worth with another goal and Mowbray told the Lancashire Telegraph: “He’s on fire, his confidence is sky high, we just need to keep him fit, that’s why I was a bit concerned with his hip flexor when he was stretching it.

“He’s a very single-minded lad who loves playing. He just wants to play, to score, he scores some amazing goals in training that make you stand back in awe.

“Hopefully he’s ready to go at Brentford, he scored there last season and let’s hope he can keep that going.”

Rovers lost Ben Brereton to injury in the second half, and remain without another regular source of goals in Bradley Dack, though he is nearing a return to first-team action.

That means keeping Armstrong fit will be essential to Rovers’ chances as they are one of 10 sides at the top end of the Championship separated by just four points.

Rovers head to Brentford on Saturday where they will come up against Ivan Toney whose goal from the penalty spot in the win against Rotherham moved him temporarily joint-top of the scoring charts with Armstrong.

That was until Armstrong’s late winner made him the standalone leader as he heads to face the team who he scored twice against in a 2-2 draw in February.

“I think he seemed to nick his hip flexor right on the top of his thigh, and I did ask him and he said he was fine and I hope he is and wasn’t selfish and just wanted to stay on the pitch,” Mowbray continued.

“In games like that you keep your top striker on, he can score a goal out of nothing on either foot, and that was the reason.

“If you’re winning 2-0 with 10 minutes to go you take him off and tell him to get ready for the next one, but you leave him on in games like that and he did the business as we know that he can.”

Rovers would go above Brentford with a win, but face a tough run of fixtures in the next week as the Bees trip is followed by an away game at Bristol City before Norwich City arrive at Ewood on December 12.

The Canaries currently top the table, with Brentford and Bristol City occupying top-six spots.

They come as three of eight games this month in which a Rovers squad which is nursing several injuries continues to be stretched.

“It doesn’t look like the fixtures let up. Who’s going to get there? Probably the team with the biggest, deepest squad who keep away from injuries the most,” Mowbray said.

“Watford have a lad they are valuing at £40m, the league is full of that, Bournemouth with two £20m strikers, whether they can keep them fit, they do make the difference, as their quality made the difference against us.

“Let’s hope we can have a run where the injuries stop. We’ve had a few problems but hopefully there’s a few of those coming back soon to help us.”