Rovers won for just a fourth time in 25 matches without Darragh Lenihan against Derby County.

Tony Mowbray turned to his teenage central defenders with the Irishman sidelined with a groin problem, with other central defensive options Daniel Ayala and Scott Wharton also out injured.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis has cemented his spot in the heart of the Rovers defence, alongside Lenihan, the pair having started the previous nine matches together, with Jarrad Branthwaite brought in for his first start since the end of February.

The Everton loanee has been consigned to a watching brief since, with Harwood-Bellis having been one of the positives from what has been a desperate run of results.

The victory over Derby was not just a second in 16 matches for Rovers, but they ended their run of poor results without their captain. They had lost three and drawn one of the four matches he’d missed this campaign, while they had lost 13 of the previous 20 fixtures without the influential Lenihan.

But pleased with the response of his central defenders in the captain’s absence, Mowbray said: “They are two teenage boys, we brought them in as cover really, yet they have played a prominent part and done so well.

“They are young boys learning their trade, they had to stick to their task.

“They had different challenges, they had some directness and speed in the first half and they had brute force for half an hour in the second half and they coped with it pretty well, even though he (Colin Kazim-Richards) had a few headers at our goal.

“I was pleased with them.”

Derby boss Wayne Rooney was left fuming with the decision not to award his side a penalty in stoppage time, but Mowbray felt Rovers had a strong claim for what would surely have been a red card had Stephen Martin viewed Max Bird’s challenge on Adam Armstrong to be a foul.

Armstrong was running clear of goal, with Bird the only covering defender, with Rovers believing the contact that sent the striker to the floor as he cut across his marker to be a foul.

Yet that went unpunished, as did Ryan Nyambe when he challenged Festy Ebosele for the ball in stoppage time.

And Mowbray added: “When Adam Armstrong was through and he cut across the lad, was it a sending off? You tell me, I don’t know.

“Then they had a scream for a penalty right at the death.

“I sit here every week and bemoan the officials, but I try and take some of that out of it because you make mistakes, I make mistakes, they make mistakes, we just have to get on with it, take it and move on.

“I felt Adam was running through to score and he didn’t give it, and then right at the end their lad checked back, he went over, whether he was caught I don’t know, but the referee said no.”