Tony Mowbray brushed off the suggestion that Rovers have failed to deal with the pressure at a crucial stage of the season.

It is now only two wins in the last 13 games for Rovers who were held to a 1-1 draw with Blackpool.

That was despite Sam Gallagher handing them a 10th minute lead, a goal in the opening half for the first time in 15 games.

However, Marvin Ekpiteta equalised in the early stages of the second half and Rovers failed to produce a response, with Mowbray left feeling his side deserved no more than the point they got.

But he doesn’t feel that the pressure has got to his side, believing they are giving everything for the cause.

He said: “I don’t think the pressure is an issue.

“They’re fantastic guys, we just have to keep going.

“I don’t think we are the highest quality and best team in the league, but we’re up there with the most honest teams in the league who work really hard for each other.

“They’re giving themselves a chance.”

Mowbray made a double switch just after the hour mark, sending on John Buckley and Bradley Dack and switching to a back four.

The pair operated as No.10s, with Sam Gallagher and Ben Brereton wider of them, and Mowbray, and counterpart Neil Critchley, felt that gave Rovers some level of control.

Buckley managed Rovers’ one shot on target in the second half, while Dack had a goal disallowed for offside.

But an injury to Scott Wharton saw Rovers forced to change again in the closing stages, with Buckley filling in at right back, and the final 10 minutes were a frustrating watch as they failed to produce a chance.

“The game was really disrupted at the end, we changed to a back four and I thought when we played with Buckley and Dack as two No.10s we caused them problems,” Mowbray said.

“We managed to get John right to the edge of the box on the half turn, the system was working and then all of a sudden Wharton goes off with his face smashed up and we had to re-adjust and put another sub on.

“I felt it was bitty at the end.

“We demand that the team run and work and fight and be connected, but sometimes when you need a goal your strikers are allowed to cheat so that when you win it you have targets forward and we’re putting pressure on them.

“Yet they still working really hard and playing like auxiliary full backs when we need them up the pitch.”

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