Tony Mowbray says he knows enough about the club’s Under-23s prospects without feeling the need to field them in the final games of this season.

The Under-23s play their final two games, both against Chelsea, on the eve of the first-team’s matches against Rotherham United and Birmingham City, and Mowbray is set to stick with the tried and tested in those fixtures.

The manager says that’s no reflection of the progress of Billy Barr’s side, currently third in Premier League 2, not least the fact that many train regularly with Mowbray and his first-team, while the boss is a regular at home matches.

“I don’t see myself bringing in the Under-23s because I know enough about them, I watch them train, I get match reports if I’m not there at games, I see all the clips, I know all about the young players,” he explained.

“For us it’s about trying to finish the season as strong as we can. We’ll go to Rotherham and be as positive as we can, with as strong a team as we’ve got and Rotherham wouldn’t expect it any other way.

“For the integrity of the league we go there trying to win, knowing that it won’t be easy.”

Rotherham have three games left to make up a three-point deficit to Derby in a bid to avoid dropping straight back into League One.

An EFL rule change on the back of Rovers’ complaint at Huddersfield making mass changes on the penultimate game of the 2016/17 season prevents Mowbray doing similar, but as he said ahead of the final game of the last campaign, when they faced a Luton Town side fighting for their lives, Rovers will name a recognised side.

“It felt unfair at the time because Birmingham hadn’t won for months and a team who are in the play-offs they beat because they made 10 changes to their team, it needed addressing,” Mowbray explained.

“We suffered.”

Rovers haven’t won any of their last three visits to the New York Stadium, including in March 2019 when they were undone by set plays.

“It’s never easy to go to Rotherham as we’ve found out over the last few years,” Mowbray added.

“My memories are of not dealing with long throws after working all week on stopping Semi Ajayi making first contact, within a minute being a goal down.

“It’s their last chance, four points shy of Derby so we know what’s coming, a really intense, positive attitude from them and we have to go and try and make it as difficult for them as possible and use our talented players in the right areas of the pitch.”

  • Rotherham United top two Championship tables, with Rovers not far behind, that being the number of goals scored by substitutes but also one-goal defeats.

The Millers’ 1-0 loss at Brentford in midweek was their 19th defeat by a one-goal margin, with 15 of Rovers’ 19 losses this season coming by just the odd goal.

It’s been a frustratingly familiar theme for Mowbray who is anticipating a tough test for his side tomorrow afternoon.

“I’ve been saying it all year, we’ve played in a lot of tight games,” he said.

“Watching their game this week the stats flashed up on the screen of teams losing by one goal, and while they were top, we were second on 15.

“The pundits are talking about how close the games are, the fine margins of winning and losing, and when you watch them they’re in every game, fighting for every inch on the pitch and they make life difficult for every team.

“Yet do they have the individuals who can stick it through someone’s legs, bend it in the corner? Probably not.

“But they have some fantastically honest, hardworking pros who make life very difficult.

“We know how hard the game will be for us and hopefully we have one or two individuals who can make life difficult for them.”