Verdict: No sense of panic from Rovers during winless run

Signing off February with their first point of the month took them to 40 ahead of a run of fixtures that would look daunting to even the most in-form of sides. For one with three wins in 14, it will take some effort to make sure this doesn’t get significantly worse before it gets better.

Those inside the club won’t be unaware of the issues and mounting criticism, yet there appears very little sense of panic, at least not outwardly, manager Tony Mowbray and chief executive Steve Waggott both making reference to an ‘extraordinary’ season, citing the schedule and injuries as mitigating factors for a campaign that has so far brought three more defeats than victories.

What cannot be overlooked or ignored is the speed as to which Rovers’ season has unravelled during a disastrous run of form that has taken them from play-off contenders, eighth ahead of the trip to QPR at the start of February, to leading the three teams on 40 points, and sitting 15th, courtesy of goal difference.

That leaves them now nearer to the relegation places than it does the play-off spots. But for Sheffield Wednesday’s financial indiscretions, the gap to the bottom three would be just six points, this some 32 games in.

Rovers looked a team oblivious to the danger that they appear to be heading, lacking urgency as they laboured to a draw against Coventry City, happy to get on the ball and play during a productive passage of play late in the first half, but less so when the going got tough in the second.

Confidence has likely played a part in that, not least the slow starts to both halves that cost them dear here.

They look a team who need things to fall in their favour to come out on top, one of those being scoring first, something they hadn’t done in 13 of their previous 16 matches. But hope sprung eternal as Ben Brereton swept home the opener 27 minutes in, his fifth of the season and second in as many matches, from a Ryan Nyambe cross.

There were flashes of the early season form returning as Rothwell, Elliott and Armstrong began to combine to greater effect.

Leading at half time for just the second time in 19 matches that should have offered them the perfect platform from which to kick on, but confidence looked to seep out of them as Matty James levelled for the Sky Blues five minutes after the re-start.

There would be no grandstand finish and late rescue act as there had been in 2-1 wins over Rotherham United and Millwall, even finishing with a man advantage, as a lack of urgency became even more prevalent, the referee blowing the full time whistle as Rovers worked the ball across the middle of the pitch at pedestrian pace.

Teams operating with a back three is a conundrum Rovers have struggled to overcome, four of the six teams they have faced in this run operating with that system, with Coventry the latest to shackle the Rovers frontline that had been running amok in the early season.

Indeed, as the minutes ticked away in the second half,  the Sky Blues looked to utilise the strength and power of their front two and seize on the indecision that was growing in the Rovers backline.

By the time the final whistle was blown, no-one could argue this wasn't a fair result.

An intriguing battle throughout was that between Coventry wing-back Sam McCallum and Rovers full back Ryan Nyambe, the Sky Blues man getting the better early on as one cross skimmed the crossbar, another found the side netting and a strike from distance was sliced wide.

That all came inside the opening 11 minutes, but the trademark Nyambe breaks down the right flank started to push his opposite number back.

That was helped by some busy midfield play from Joe Rothwell, who was at the heart of much of Rovers’ good play, not least the goal scored by Brereton after 27 minutes. He freed Nyambe down the right whose pull back took its time to reach Brereton on the edge of the box, but when it did, he slammed the ball home with a powerful finish.

Coventry sounded a warning almost instantly though, their celebrations about a possible equaliser cut short by the linesman’s flag as Leo Ostigard ghosted in at the back post to tap home a flick-on from an inswinging free-kick, but from an offside position.

A scrappy game wasn’t really settling down, but Rovers’ best hopes of doubling their advantage came in the dying embers of the half. Barry Douglas was almost on the byline when he whipped a free kick goalwards, taking everyone by surprise, not least goalkeeper Ben Wilson, the post coming to his rescue.

Adam Armstrong, facing his former club, was being shackled well, but a rare moment of space opened up to him in first half stoppage time, but Wilson was quickly off his line to thwart his effort from an Elliott pass.

That would prove to be Rovers’ final shot on target of the game, Coventry levelling five minutes after the re-start. McCallum, again forward from wing-back, looked to have overhit his cross, but the presence of two strikers in the middle, allowed Tyler Walker to nod down for Matty James to hook in an equaliser.

There was little response by Rovers, and as time ticked on, the visitors looked to grow in confidence at the same rate as the hosts’ decision-making on the ball became a frustration.

Rovers looked susceptible on the break, not least when seeing their own attacking corners cleared, Nyambe required to make a last-ditch tackle to stop Viktor Gyokeres, while Darragh Lenihan needed to make a similar intervention after Jarrad Branthwaite was robbed of the ball by Walker.

As for the prospect of a Rovers winner, the closest they came was a flicked Branthwaite header from a Douglas free kick that evaded both the far post, and the unmarked Bradley Dack.

And with it five consecutive defeats became six matches without a win, despite a late red card for Ostigard.

Mowbray has changed personnel, formation, and mixed up his rhetoric. There has been defiance, defence and impassioned responses, but still Rovers seem a team drifting along in search of the winning formula.