The Rovers team appears to pick itself, a luxury either not afforded to Tony Mowbray previously, or one he’s opted against.

Mowbray himself admitted there were only a ‘few little decisions’ to make for the Preston North End game, made easier by the eventual absence of both Thomas Kaminski and Daniel Ayala.

Rovers have seemingly found a settled side and system on the back of the Fulham defeat, something to work with and take forward.

Scott Wharton brings a balance to the three-man defence, while Darragh Lenihan looks much more comfortable on the right than he did on the left when the formation was used against Coventry City and QPR.

Mowbray will want his side to play better football than they have in their last two matches, though the conditions have played a huge part in that and the players deserve great credit for the way they have adapted.

If Kaminski is able to play through the pain of his stomach muscle injury then as No.1 in his position he deserves to regain his place at the expense of Aynsley Pears, but Daniel Ayala, Sam Gallagher and Tyrhys Dolan will hopefully add to the strength of the bench and be patient for their opportunities.

Reda Khadra is one who has seized his chance, two goals and an assist in his last three starts has seen Dolan take a back seat for now, but the hope is the Rovers squad will only get stronger.

Mowbray stressed as such when discussing the upcoming January transfer window, knowing keeping this squad together, and adding to it, is their only hope of keeping up their run of form.

With Rovers have made 14 changes in their run of six wins in eight games, with one unchanged team.

There has been the need for at least one enforced change in every match bar the Bristol City draw where Mowbray stuck with the side that had beaten Sheffield United before the international break, a first unchanged team since the second game of the season.

With a clearer schedule, no midweek games until the December 29 fixture, there is no need for rest and rotation and the hope will be that any changes are not forced on the manager.  

They run into something of a formidable force this weekend, but do so on the back of three consecutive wins and clean sheets.

Bournemouth are ruthless infront of goal, finding the net 23 times in their 10 home games in which they have been beaten just once. Indeed, they have only lost twice all season.

Yet the Cherries are in the midst of, by their standards, something of a sticky patch with only one win in their last six games and averaging a point per match.

They, along with Rovers, posses one of the youngest squads in the division, though there is a wealth of Premier League experience in the likes of Steve Cook, Adam Smith and Gary Cahill expected to start.

Robbie Brady and Ben Pearson were only among the substitutes last week and even with David Brooks’ absence and Jefferson Lerma’s suspension they can call on quality all across the pitch.

To succeed Rovers will have to break through a defence that has only conceded 17 goals in 21 games, but 11 of those have come in their 10 home fixtures.

Ben Brereton is second to Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic in the scoring stakes, and tucked in just behind the Chile international is Dominic Solanke who has nine goals in his last nine outings.

This fixture has tended to bring goals, 27 in the last eight meetings, while their last two at the Vitaly Stadium have ended 3-2 to the hosts.

Rovers ended their wait for a win against a top six side in Stoke City last time out on their travels and will head to the south coast with belief, but also appreciating the challenge that they face.