Rovers boss Tony Mowbray believes his side can be a match for anyone in the Championship on their day, but admits consistency throughout the season has held them back.

Rovers ended 2018 with three consecutive defeats but notched up four straight wins to start 2019.

Since January ended however, it’s been a run of six games without a win for Mowbray’s side who face Lancashire rivals Preston North End at Ewood Park on Saturday (12noon).

Rovers lost to struggling Rotherham last time out and have also fallen to defeat at fourth bottom Reading in the last month.

But they have recorded wins over high-flying pair Leeds United and West Brom this season.

“I think what the team has shown this season is that we don’t quite have the consistency to be where we would like to be, or the fans would like us to be,” Mowbray said.

“Yet in any game, on any given day, we can win.

“To do it week after week after week because we have got the squad and the quality and depth is something that’s probably reflecting on the results on the 35 games we’ve played.

“We’ve had some amazing results and beaten some really top teams, yet there have been some games that come along and we think we might win this one and we don’t.

“Work hard, stick together, keep fighting for each other, whoever you play, whenever it is, just stick together and see how we get on and at the end of the season see how many points we can accrue.”

Mowbray maintains his side can be competitive in the Championship as they look to arrest the current run of form which has seen them slip to 17th with 11 games remaining.

“I don’t think it matters to the team who we’re playing, because we know that Ipswich Town, who might be 10 points adrift, are just as tough as playing Bristol City in sixth, or Middlesbrough in fifth,” Mowbray added.

“You don’t think ‘wow, they were so much better than them’.

“Ipswich Town at home was a tough game, but they are all tough football matches in this league.

“Every game that comes, we will give it our best shot.

“We will win some games that we might not expect to win, and lose some that we would have hoped to win.”