Tony Mowbray wants the Rovers fans to be ‘wrapped up’ in the game and believes a bumper crowd can inspire his young team.

A crowd in excess of the 17,291 who watched the win against Sheffield United last month is expected inside Ewood Park for today’s game with Preston North End where Rovers will be aiming for a first home victory against their neighbours in six attempts.

Mowbray praised the travelling support after the win at Stoke and hopes that can be replicated today.

He said: “It should be a good atmosphere. It’s always good when there’s a crowd in at Ewood and our supporters have someone to compete against with another fan base.

“We have to get our fans wrapped up in the game and make them feel really involved and we’ll try and get that done and hopefully it’ll be a great game for everyone.

“We’re at home, we want to be aggressive, attack and score goals but be mindful of their threats.”

Mowbray says he cannot overlook the positive results of Preston North End in recent weeks despite their early-season struggles.

While North End are 17th in the Championship, four of their six victories this season have come in their last eight matches, having taken four points from the division’s top two Bournemouth and Fulham.

Frankie McAvoy’s side claimed a point when hosting the Cottagers last weekend, having also won at Bournemouth last month, alongside victories of Coventry City, Luton Town and Middlesbrough.

Pressure remains on McAvoy given their league position, but Mowbray said: “They’ve re-discovered something, had some amazing results in recent weeks.

“I know a lot of people at Middlesbrough and they couldn’t believe how they didn’t win that game with the chances they had, but shot themselves in the foot.

“The result they had at the weekend is a great result, against Fulham at home as we well know it’s not easy. They won at Bournemouth, they’re on a pretty good run of form, they’ve had their disappointing results, I sat and watch them lose 3-0 at Forest recently. Let’s see how they come up against us.”

Ched Evans was instrumental in Preston’s win at Ewood Park in February and after goals off the bench in the last two games, against Middlesbrough and Fulham, the striker is set to earn a recall this afternoon.

Mowbray knows Evans well having managed teams when he has been on the opposition, and the Rovers manager is wary of his threat.

“I saw him score a brilliant header against Middlesbrough from a corner and when he’s played against my teams in the past he’s always been a handful and a threat,” he added.

“He’s got goals next to his name, you give him enough minutes and he’ll score goals.

“He looks hungry to score, physically impose himself on the game but let’s hope he doesn’t do too well if he starts.”