Tony Mowbray hopes to have Daniel Ayala back for the Boxing Day visit of Sheffield Wednesday after the Spaniard missed the defeat at Stoke City.

Ayala was recalled to the side for the midweek win over Rotherham United, but a knock to his foot late on in the game kept him out of the trip to the bet365 Stadium.

With Derrick Williams and Scott Wharton long-term injury concerns, Mowbray opted to play Bradley Johnson alongside Darragh Lenihan, with youngster Hayden Carter among the substitutes.

Tom Trybull and Lewis Holtby were recalled in midfield, as Mowbray made two alterations to the side that overcame the Millers on Wednesday.

“No Wharton, no Williams, no Ayala, the choice was another young boy in the team,” Mowbray explained. “We decided to play Johno there and he didn’t have a lot to do.

“We would have preferred a centre half heading the ball away eight minutes in, it is what it is and we have to move on.

“I don’t think he had much concern, he kept the ball moving for us, he did what he had to do.

“Hopefully Daniel will be back soon because Scotty Wharton and Derrick Williams won’t be back soon, so we need Daniel.

“We’ll see how he is for Boxing Day.”

Stoke won the game courtesy of a seventh minute Nick Powell header.

That proved to be the Potters' only shot on target of the whole match, with the hosts happy to sit on their early lead, defending deep and denying Rovers space.

Adam Armstrong was denied by Joe Bursik early in the second half, while the ‘keeper kept out a Harvey Elliott shot late on, with Rovers enjoying almost 70 per cent possession.

Stoke proved their defensive resilience under Michael O’Neill, keeping their 11th clean sheet of the campaign as Rovers failed to score for the sixth time.

“You know what Stoke are. Michael has got them very well organised,” Mowbray added.

“He’s managed Northern Ireland so whenever they play generally they’re playing against some bigger teams and he’s very good at organising teams defensively as their clean sheets record shows.

“It was imperative that we didn’t concede and it was a real sloppy goal, lack of concentration early on.

“It was a frustrating day for us.”