Adam Armstrong hasn’t suffered a recurrence of his hamstring injury as Rovers opted to rest their top scorer against Norwich City.

Tony Mowbray said the lengthy trip to Carrow Road wasn’t ideal for the 24-year-old who has been nursing a sore hamstring all month, and has now missed four of the last five matches.

Armstrong came through 70 minutes unscathed in the 0-0 draw with Bristol City, with Mowbray admitting it had been a “gamble” to start the 20-goal top scorer.

Mowbray revealed after the Norwich draw that Armstrong’s physical output had been down against Bristol City, and decided against taking the striker to East Anglia, the final game before Rovers’ two-week international break.

That should allow him to be fully recovered for the trip to Wycombe on April 2, and Mowbray said: “Five hours on a coach isn’t ideal for someone feeling his hamstring.

“I don’t think it was right to bring Adam five hours on a coach.

“The game he did play the other day, the 70 minutes he was way down on his physical data, it wasn’t an option to stick him on the bus and be way down on his physical data.

“We needed people to run and chase and fight for the team and that’s what we got.”

Armstrong had been keen to return from the injury he first felt in the defeat at Reading last month having trained with the squad in the early part of last week.

Mowbray said the decision was taken, alongside the medical team, that the striker would get no more than 70 minutes against Bristol City, with Rovers held to a 0-0 draw by the Robins last Wednesday.

The quick turnaround, and long journey, for Saturday’s trip to Norwich City was deemed too much for Armstrong as he was left out of the squad altogether.

Mowbray felt the game against Bristol City would offer more chances for Armstrong to show his deadly finishing in front of goal, while at Norwich he believed a more energetic and technical approach was needed, instead opting for midfielder John Buckley to lead the line.

“Adam played the other night against Bristol City, which was a calculated gamble we took after a long chat together. We thought we’d dominate the ball and create more chances than we would do here,” Mowbray explained.

“We decided to play him because he’s a brilliant finisher off of both feet despite him not being at 100 per cent.

“I thought that, to bring him here on a five-hour coach journey, and expecting him to play against the league leaders while nursing a hamstring injury while also having me shouting and demanding at him to run and work harder, wouldn’t have been the right thing for his welfare and for the long-term of the team.

“We left him at home and hopefully he’ll be fit and ready to fire on all cylinders after the break.”

Rovers return at Wycombe on Friday, April 2, the first of their eight remaining Championship games.