Rovers’ run of defeats, and his personal displays, have left midfielder Lewis Travis hurting, according to Tony Mowbray.

Travis is in line to make his 10th consecutive start for Rovers against Coventry City following a sooner than expected return to action last month, and Mowbray insists that has played a part in the 23-year-old not hitting his usual high standards in the middle of the park.

Mowbray lamented the three month absence of Travis during Rovers’ poor end to 2020, but his return had appeared to kickstart a run of good results as they enjoyed an unbeaten January.

However, Rovers’ winless February has coincided with a dip in form for the 23-year-old who, like Bradley Dack, is still chasing his fitness after lengthy spells out.

And Mowbray said: “Trav is an emotional guy, he was in my office for 20 minutes, and he’s hurting. He knows where his performance level is, he’s way down on what Lewis Travis he brings to our team.

“I’m trying to get them (Travis and Bradley Dack) up to speed and I know they’re nowhere near the finished article. Trav has had 14 weeks out, and he’s back on the grass for a few days and then he’s back in the team.

“He’s not going to be the footballer we know that he can get to. What is the best way, just train him every day? When do you put him back in?

“He’s a unique type of footballer at our club and I’m trying to get him up to speed as quickly as possible, yet suffering the shortfalls at the moment in the performance level.

“He knows that, he’s very humble about that, he knows he’s not playing particularly brilliantly at the moment.”

Fitness is key to the all-action midfielder’s combative style of play, and where in an ideal world Mowbray may well look to hand him a rest, injuries in central midfield are unlikely to afford him that luxury.

Jacob Davenport, his partner in the middle of the park as recently as the Nottingham Forest defeat, now faces at least a month out, and Mowbray added: “At the moment, Without Johnson, without Trybull, without Holtby, without Davenport, it’s not an easy pick.

“Trav is a brilliant human being, the fact he’s hurting so much is because his performance level has dipped below where he wants it to be, never mind where I want it to be.

“I have sat there and supported him and said ‘I know where you are, you just give me your best, and if I bring you off after an hour that’s okay, I can’t ask anymore. If it’s not enough and the team aren’t performing and we get beat again, I’ll be the one who suffers the consequences. ‘You’ve got your contract, you just keep working hard because I know he’ll play in the Premier League’.

“Hopefully that’s with this club and if not, then he’ll definitely get there because it’s burning in his stomach to be a winner.”