Harvey Elliott has assisted all three of Joe Rothwell’s goal this season but the matchwinner said his pass on Sunday was the first he could ‘properly claim’.

Elliott and Adam Armstrong linked up before the Liverpool loanee squared the ball into the path of Rothwell to fire home on his left foot just after the hour mark.

That proved to be their final acts of the game, both taken off with Rovers having lined up a triple substitution in the lead-up to the goal.

It was Rothwell’s third goal of the season, backing up strikes against Brentford and Sheffield Wednesday. Both of those were individual strikes, Rothwell picking up the ball from a deep position, with driving runs forward ending with him finding the back of the net.

Elliott was the man who passed to him on both occasions, but the Boro assist was much clearer, his eighth of what is becoming an increasingly productive loan spell.

And Rothwell said: “He’s had a few assists that he’s tried to claim where he’s passed it to me about 40 yards from goal.

“I said to him afterwards that’s the first one he can properly claim.”

Rothwell and Elliott started on the flanks for Rovers, but were replaced moments after the goal to allow for the introductions of Ben Brereton and Sam Gallagher, with Bradley Dack also sent on.

Asked about his exit from the game, Rothwell said with a wry smile: “I had a bit of a tight hammy but I’m not sure whether it was a bit of a pre-planned one before I scored the goal. It happened quite quickly.

“I had got a bit of a tight hamstring though so I’ll say that was the reason why.”

The win was an important one for Rovers, moving them up three places in the standings to ninth, with just four Championship matches played over the weekend.

They host Luton Town on Saturday when they will aim to complete an unbeaten January, another important game in the eyes of Rothwell.

He believes there is plenty more to come from this side, and if they can find a level of consistency, he sees no reason why the top six isn’t achievable.

“We knew what kind of game it was going to be, you saw the game at our place, it wasn’t the prettiest,” he said after the match.

“We knew it was going to be a similar one and thankfully we managed to get one and hold on.

“This can be massive for us, we said before the game we wanted that to be a kickstart for us but it will mean nothing if we don’t back it up against Luton at our place.

“It’s a stepping stone in the right direction and hopefully we can pick up another good result against Luton.

“I’d say there is (more to come). We’ve been quite inconsistent. We’ve had games where we’ve blown teams out the water and others where we can’t seem to hit a barn door.

“I think there’s plenty more to come and once it clicks hopefully you’ll see the best of us.”

Rothwell’s winner came at a time when Rovers were on the back foot, Thomas Kaminski producing a fine save while Nathan Wood hit the post.

The goal lit up the game, his third of the season, matching his tally from the whole of last season.

“The goal was like an ‘Oasis in a Desert of Mediocrity’ really, because the overall game was poor due to the nature of it,” Mowbray told the club website.

“I’m delighted for Joe Rothwell because we’ve spent this week talking to him about how he needs to get into the box in order to impact games more.

“Although the goals he’s scored so far this season have been brilliant goals of high technical quality, I want him to start scoring more scruffy goals inside the box.

“This wasn’t scruffy because he produced a great finish, but he scored it from inside the box, which is what he needs to start doing on a more regular basis.”