Tony Mowbray says he will keep working to arrest Rovers’ slump in form until he’s told otherwise by the club’s owners.

Rovers are in their worst run of form since relegation from the Premier League following a fifth successive defeat against Watford at Ewood Park on Tuesday night.

Mowbray marked four years in charge on the eve of the Watford defeat and stressed that he wouldn’t be a burden on the club if owners Venky’s see him as ‘the problem’ behind recent results.

Rovers’ play-off hopes are over after a run of five straight defeats and they slipped to 15th in the table ahead of this weekend’s visit of Coventry City, with a tough run of fixtures in March on the horizon.

And when asked about a run of form that has seen Rovers slip seven places in the space of five matches, Mowbray told the Lancashire Telegraph: “I don’t want to be a burden on the club, if I’m the problem then that's no problem, the owners have to tell me.

“Other than that, I love the game, I've been here before, I'll keep going. 

“I’ve talked about the journey, this club needs rebuilding and four years in, I think we had to restructure and I think we’re 31 games in to being a team that can try and get out of this division by playing a brand of football that allows you to dominate games, a bit like Watford could, like Brentford can do, Swansea can do it, they dominate the ball and look like they can win football matches.

“I believe the best way to get out of this league is to do that and other teams like Mick (McCarthy) is doing it at Cardiff they get it forward, score from set plays and they play to their strengths of the team.

“It’s about trying to find a way to win and at this moment in time we can’t.”

Rovers moved into play-off contention, Mowbray’s aim at the start of the season, after an unbeaten start to the year as they responded to a poor end to 2020. However, five defeats in February has all but ended those hopes with still 15 games to go, as Rovers remain on 39 points.

Mowbray feels his side won’t be alone in enduring a tough run of form during this season, and feels that injuries across the squad have contributed to the poor results.

“It can happen to any team,” Mowbray added of falling from eighth to 15th in the space of a five-game winless run.

“I genuinely feel as though we are a competitive team in this league and can beat anyone, but at this moment with 11 first-team injuries, it’s a frustration, we’ve got four central defenders and four central midfielders out and we’re doing our very best.

“I see a team that’s still fighting really hard and yet they still get kicked by the final score, we seem to lose by the odd goal and it’s hurting us all.”

Meanwhile, Harvey Elliott, scorer of Rovers’ opening goal against Watford, told the club website: “We have to stick together, we have to be a team, we have to keep fighting for each other and stay strong, keep the desire and the hunger to put things right.

“It’s not a league where you need to dwell on performances and losses, you keep getting chances to go again, it’s a tough patch for us but I’m sure we’ll get through it.”