The prospect of only selecting players who will be at the club beyond this season isn’t a situation Tony Mowbray says is available to him.

Equally, the Rovers boss says he’s been trying to select a team able to turning around what has been a desperate run of form with just one win in 17 games.

Four loanees and three out of contract players started the midweek defeat at Sheffield Wednesday, but Mowbray says he had little choice in some positions.

With Ryan Nyambe and Joe Rankin-Costello out injured, Elliott Bennett was the only senior right back available, while issues at centre half mean Taylor Harwood-Bellis has slotted in alongside Darragh Lenihan.

Both left backs on the club’s books aren’t expected to be at the club next season, while several of the central midfield options are out of contract, with Lewis Holtby not making the squad on Tuesday despite starting the win over Derby County.

“I think it’s probably fair to watch the team and make those assumptions. In certain positions, we have to play loan players or out of contract players,” Mowbray said of his selections.

“We’ve been trying to win games. We have to try and win some football matches between now and the end of the season, and that’s the balance, I don’t want to throw a team of kids all in because they’ll be here next season and bin everyone else because they’re not.

“I have done that in the past at clubs with loan players and told them the reasons, but at this moment in time it’ll be a mixture, and just trying to pick a team to win the next game.”

The issue of out of contract players wanting to avoid injury so not to put potential moves in the balance, was highlighted during the final nine games of last season.

With free agents set to face uncertain futures in the open market, Mowbray says it is something managers do face at this time of the season.

“I have those conversations with my own players. I have got four, fix, six, players out of contract and those are the conversations I have,” he said.

“I sit them down, I care about these players and if this is an issue for them, and this may be talking against the club who pay their wages until the end of July if they don’t get fixed up, but if I feel player A is really worried about picking an injury up because he needs a job next year, he hasn’t got a club and his agent hasn’t sorted anything out, and he doesn’t feel he can contribute, then you pick player B.

“They’re human beings, generally they get pretty well paid, but they have families and mortgages to pay. I’ll do right by the guy, as long as he’s a good guy who’s working hard, he gives everything when he’s asked, he’s not working against us, not being overly selfish, I have got an ear to listen to them.”