Tony Mowbray felt there wasn’t much between the sides as Rovers were edged out by the league leaders at Ewood Park.

Two goals from Teemu Pukki handed Norwich City all three points, with Rovers having levelled from a superb solo goal from Harvey Elliott on the hour.

Pukki put the hosts ahead in the 22nd minute, and added a fortuitous second midway through the second, as a tough week for Rovers ended with defeat, and one point from the last nine available.

Rovers were the team in the ascendancy when Liverpool loanee Elliott drew them level, with Sam Gallagher having hit the bar and Elliott and Lewis Holtby having efforts saved by Michael McGovern.

And Mowbray said: “We’re on a journey to get better. We have an ambition to try and push on and be around the top six in this division and after 46 games we’ll see whether we’re good enough.

“We were in League One only two-and-a-half years ago and we’re trying to build and grow.

“We played against a team who were in the Premier League last season and I’m not sure, but probably all of those players played in the Premier League last year.

“I don’t think we’re that far away, I didn’t sit there and think ‘they’re too good for us’.

“They have some good players who can create chances but on the balance of play, we still had 20 shots, had lots of the ball, but you have to accept they have some good players and scored twice.

“They were disappointing goals from our point of view. The first was a set play that we never really got away, then their centre forward does what he does and it’s one we have to take on the chin and move onto the next one.”

Pukki’s second goal came via Norwich’s first attack after the re-start, the boot of Pukki getting a touch to Emi Buendia’s shot to divert the ball beyond Thomas Kaminski.

Mowbray added: “It was a goal out of nothing and a goal in isolation. We were the dominant team, I didn’t think after scoring that we would stop playing and stop creating and doing what we were doing.

“Then out of nothing a shot from 20 yards, it’s deflected in. We have to accept it.

“We didn’t get anything from the game, it’s a bit harsh on us, but that’s football.”

Having trailed 2-1, Mowbray made a triple switch, bringing off all three midfielders and replacing them with Stewart Downing, Jacob Davenport and John Buckley.

All three saw plenty of the ball, as did Rovers, in the closing stages, but their best chance of an equaliser came from an Armstrong shot on the turn with five minutes to play.

“I wanted to keep the energy levels of the team up. Buckley and Davenport should have bags of energy and Downing has that class on the ball,” Mowbray said of the alterations.

“Yet he’s 36 so it was a change around. I didn’t expect it to change much, we were attacking that last part of the game, but it didn’t change much.

“We had some chances at the end that could have broken for us, things bouncing around their six yard box but it didn’t happen for us.”