Every win and point matters, but if ever it meant more, now feels like that time. Rovers are battling and scrapping for every ball, and with it, every result.

They are doing so under the backdrop of possessing a squad not currently equipped to deal with a 46-game season and following the loss of their star striker to the riches of the Premier League.

So heightened were the expectations last season that an inquest followed every defeat, and there were plenty of them to dissect. Rovers badly underachieved, there is no denying that, Mowbray himself this week admitting his side were too focused on Plan A and lacked flexibility to change in-game when the situation required.

At this stage last season Rovers had one fewer point, but six more goals with wins by scorelines of 5-0 and 4-0 to their name and as a result, much greater excitement surrounding the team. There is no such chance of anyone getting carried away now.

Such indication came when leading 1-0, the away supporters asked their home counterparts in less polite terms how poor their side must be that Rovers were winning away (with only two previously in 2021).

There appears to have been a cap on expectations 12 months on, helped by the fact so many fans, rightly, are just happy to be back watching their side. Of course disappointment and frustration will come, and it might not be too far around the corner, but right now, being back watching their beloved Blues (or yellows) live is worth more than any result.

Experienced players on inflated wages, big-money buys, Premier League loanees, homegrown talent, Rovers have tried it all but throughout have remained a mid-table Championship club since relegation from the top flight nine years ago. Wrestling with the notion that other perceived smaller clubs with less history and inferior reputation have overtaken them isn’t always easy to contend with, but is the harsh reality of the ever-changing world of football.

Yet equally, we must stop short of branding Rovers as some plucky underdog battling to punch above their weight, this a club with multi-millionaire backers, high-class training facilities and a Category One Academy all to call upon, and that’s the here and now, there are 146 years of proud history behind them.

The fact they are currently battling the odds is of their own doing.

However, what sits well with a fanbase is the style Rovers have gone about their opening three games with. In all three they have had less possession (as hard as that was to fathom after the Forest game) but come out with seven points, a stark contrast from that figure being the go-to as a sign of dominance last season. This team have run, fought, headed and scrapped (quite literally at times) their way to seven points out of nine of which the fans have savoured every last one.

They won’t be able to keep the intensity and ferocity at which sections of the opening three games have been played at for the duration, which is why the need for reinforcements is required despite the benefits of togetherness a small squad brings.

But an on-the-front, getting in the opposition’s faces, while still possessing quality to influence matches in the final third resonates with the fanbase, but also suits the qualities of the players at the manager’s disposal.

There remains plenty of question marks and that’s parking the long-term issue of contracts running down one and financial sustainability for a moment. How long can Tyrhys Dolan be expected to lead the line? Will Daniel Ayala’s fitness hold up? Where will the volume of goals required come from? What happens when they have to force the issue and try and break sides down?

But if they aren’t to be found wanting for effort, whether perceived or not, they will get the backing.

The point at Millwall and win at Forest felt un-Rovers like. Where previously they may have wilted in the hostility of the New Den when trailing 1-0, they found a way to leave with a point.

When Philip Zinckernagel equalised for Forest there was a sense that Rovers had thrown away the ascendancy amid the prospect of a grandstand finish, but they wrestled it back with a late rally, and in the end ran out deserved winners.

Last season Rovers would have won many style and statistician contests, their underlying numbers were very good, apart from the one that matters, the points tally. So far, it’s been something of a stark contrast.

Tougher times will undoubtedly lay ahead, and the next test in what was an always perceived difficult start on paper comes against one of Mowbray’s former sides, West Brom, fresh on the back of a thumping win over Sheffield United. Rovers will need the very best of their running power on Saturday to resist the buoyant Baggies.

They will then likely assess their aims and ambitions when the squad is fully completed by the time the transfer window ‘slams shut’ on August 31 by which point they will be five games in and hopefully a treatment table that is easing rather than creaking.

After a summer of woe and worry, there has been something to smile about in the early weeks of the season.  More wins than signings, but the prospect of more of each before the month is out.