Tony Mowbray accepts Rovers supporters are yet to see the real Barry Douglas, the player the club pushed hard to sign on loan from Leeds United.

Rovers had tried to add a left back, and competition for Amari’i Bell, during the window and identified Douglas as a top target.

They eventually secured the Scot on a season-long deal after he had fallen down the pecking order at Elland Road but it’s been a mixed start to life at Rovers, struggling for both form and fitness.

Since arriving, he’s had plenty to contend with outside of simply moving clubs, forced to self-isolate within a matter of weeks of signing, as well as picking up a muscle injury soon after returning.

He was then replaced at half-time in the Brentford draw, a switch Mowbray described as for “football reasons”, with the left back on a yellow card at the same time Rovers were already down to 10 men.

On Wednesday night, against Rotherham, the full back endured a night to forget, with Bell sent on in his place again, this time just before the hour. That means in his nine starts, he hasn’t made the final whistle in four of them.

Similarly to Tom Trybull, who joined on deadline day from Norwich, Douglas had been short of football prior to his arrival, and the schedule hasn’t afforded them the bedding in process that Mowbray has allowed with new recruits in previous seasons, with Harrison Reed having to wait for his chance before making the starting XI regularly, following a similar loan move from Southampton.

Mowbray maintains Douglas will prove his qualities over a sustained spell, his delivery from the left flank a key reason behind his signing, with the manager calling for an improvement from the 31-year-old.

“I think there’s improvement in him. We’ve had good chats and he hasn’t played a lot of football,” Mowbray explained. “He’s here because of his distribution and his ability to play high up the pitch and deliver the right balls and crosses into the box.

“He’s an assist player, as we build, that final ball into the box has to have that quality into the box and Barry is here to help us do that and compete with Amari’i at left back.

“I’ve told him face to face that we need improvement and to see the player that’s in there.

“I know he’s adjusting and adapting, it’s not easy.

“It feels like he’s still finding his feet and settling in, and because he hasn’t played for so long, to come straight into a routine of game after game so quickly, it’s not easy to adjust and be ready for the next one.

“New signings need schooling on how you play, what the expectation is, where he needs to be when we’re attacking down the right, you have to do all the work, all the video analysis with him, and I think it’s fair to say that he’s settling in and the best is yet to be seen of Barry Douglas.”

Ryan Nyambe and Harvey Elliott have become something of a constant on the Rovers right-hand side, building up a good understanding and are a source of joy going forward. They linked up to devastating effect against Norwich City, while at Bristol City, it was down that flank that Rovers looked the more dangerous.

Things haven’t been as settled on the left, particularly at full back, nor in attack since the injury to Ben Brereton.

On the imbalance of attacking threat, Mowbray said: “I think that’s a decent observation.

“Full backs like to know and have a good discussion with the player in front of them so that if they’re blocking off the inside pass the winger has to lock on to the full back.

“There’s lots of combinations going on in the wide areas, in and out of possession, and the relationships are important.

“I think it’s fair comment that Brereton dropping out through injury, I’ve rotated the left-sided midfield player, but that combination isn’t struck up with one particular player.”