Steve Waggott says he is as disappointed as anyone by Rovers’ recent results, but feels everyone at the club is working hard to put it right.

Waggott believes all clubs are working under difficult conditions this season and says the injury situation facing Tony Mowbray has to be taken into consideration.  

Performances against Nottingham Forest and Watford, albeit in defeat, offered the encouragement to the club's chief executive, though he apologised to supporters for a run of results that has seen Rovers slip to 15th in the standings.

That is a drop off from being eighth only three weeks ahead after an unbeaten January moved them into play-off contention.

“I get this eighth position syndrome that we hit that ceiling and then we bounce off it and go back down, but it has been a challenge for everybody. But I’m around the training ground a lot and everyone is on point, everyone is working hard,” Waggott.

“I can only apologise to the fans for the last five games.

“If I take them one by one, QPR was an opportunity, we couldn’t quite get what we needed, Preston, I didn’t think we were aggressive enough and were on the back foot when we started and couldn’t quite close the gap.

“I thought Barnsley was a difficult evening, but if you want to be a good team, and Tony and I know that because we’ve been in the game a long time, you have to win in all conditions.

“The last two performances, I know we haven’t got any points and I go back to the fact that we’re a results driven industry, but I thought the performance against Forest was encouraging, you can’t blame Arma (Adam Armstrong) for missing a penalty because he’s a great player, but it was a turning point.

“Against Watford I thought there were a couple of frailties at the back but generally I thought Harvey Elliott, Adam Armstrong, Joe Rothwell, there were some really encouraging signs.

“We have to turn it around, we all know that, it won’t be for a lack of effort and all I can say to the fans is we apologise, we go out to win games and will continue to do that and hopefully, starting against Coventry, we can get a positive result.”

Rovers have now lost 14 times this season, including 10 of their last 16 fixtures in all competitions. And Waggott accepts that results will be the dictating factor for supporters, but feels there are mitigating factors that have to be taken into account.

“Football is stress, there’s no getting away from it, we’re in a results driven industry, and I’m not making excuses and I’m not looking for compassion or sympathy, but what I’m saying is that the facts are the last year, as I’ve outlined before, from a football perspective have been nothing short of amazing, what we’ve had to endure in terms of stopping and starting, all the Covid compliance, all the injuries that have ensued, it’s not just us,” he said.

“We had 11 players out who could make up another team for Blackburn Rovers so Tony has to contend with a lot. We’ve had to lock down the training ground and couldn’t open it up in the first place because of Covid compliance, we had drive-thru food delivered, we’ve had a partial shutdown since because we’re allowed to use some parts and not others.

“It’s been a real stop-start, difficult season in terms of the operational aspect of the football department.”

Rovers enjoyed two productive transfer windows, bringing in five permanent signings and the same number of loanees, as well as securing the return of Stewart Downing.

Their early season form saw them competing at the top end of the Championship, as well as being the division’s leading scorers, but as the goals have dried up, so have the points.

Mowbray has pointed to inconsistency of team selection as a factor behind the poor results, and Waggott says that is something that can’t be overlooked.

He added: “I thought the summer transfer window was a really good one for us, I thought we acquired some good assets that could kick us on, some good players, we started off in a real great position, great football, the pitches were slick, the weather was quite mild, but with injuries, and some difficult surfaces to play on, I just think things haven’t suited the style of play and it’s hard for Tony and the coaching team to turn away from the model that they had developed and said ‘forget all that’. It’s not that easy, I wish it was but it’s not.

“When you add the injuries into that, getting Travis back into the team because of how important we know he is, Dack, our talisman, pushing him back in, we know when he’s at full throttle, he's a great footballer. He’s doing his best, as is Travis, but they’ve been out a long time.

“When you blend the pot together it’s a difficult cocktail, for all clubs, I’m not saying Blackburn Rovers are different, but there’s been a lot to contend with.

“It’s not a normal season, we’re not comparing apples with apples in my opinion, so I’m as disappointed as anybody.

“Me and Tony are very hardworking individuals, we care about the club and that’s really important. The players care, they’re an honest bunch of players.

“We have got players coming back and I think we have to be judged on when we have the players back and there’s a full compliment of players to be selected from.

“He has had a depleted squad in recent weeks Tony.”