Rovers’ season hasn’t lost any momentum, in the eyes of Tony Mowbray, despite a run of just two wins from their last nine matches.

An unbeaten run of eight games in November and early December moved Rovers into top-six contention, but a poor end to 2020 and the weekend draw to Stoke City has seen them gravitate back to mid-table.

They missed the chance to go above the Potters with a win, with the gap to the top six already seven points having played a game more ahead of tomorrow’s visit of second-placed Swansea City.

Performances at Ewood are a concern, as is the state of the playing surface which was criticised by the manager and players at the weekend, but Mowbray is maintaining faith his side can still put together another good run of form.

Asked if he was concerned about the season’s momentum, Mowbray said: “No, I don’t think so.

“I have every faith in this team, I’ve always said that I like this team.

“We won our last league game, we drew on Saturday, win our next game on Tuesday night and that would be seven points out of nine.

“I don’t think there’s any momentum lost, I’m hoping it will pick up, (Bradley) Dack and (Lewis) Travis are on the cusp and hopefully in four or five games they’ll be up to full fitness and driving this team forward.

“This team has shown it can dominate game, create chances, we’ve got a brand of football that’s working but we haven’t had the results we feel we deserve from the season so far.

“But no-one is crying about it, we have 22 games to get the points we warrant and hopefully we will in the second half of the season.”

Rovers handed a debut to Jarrad Branthwaite at the weekend, two days after signing on loan from Everton, as he put in an accomplished display alongside Darragh Lenihan.

Daniel Ayala will miss the remainder of the month at least with a hamstring injury, but with Ryan Nyambe and Lewis Holtby back in the fold at the weekend, and more numbers set to return in the coming weeks, Mowbray is hopeful a stronger squad will be a big lift.

“(Joe) Rankin-Costello is maybe 10 days away, Elliott Bennett is a week away, and we’re getting players back who can help the team and fingers crossed we find a way to win football matches,” he said. “Let’s wait and see where this season takes us.”