Rovers’ injury problems in defence are mounting after captain Charlie Mulgrew was forced off in the defeat to Preston.

Central defender Mulgrew was replaced by Amari’i Bell with 20 minutes to play which puts his involvement in Tuesday’s game with Wigan, as well as Scotland’s upcoming Euro qualifiers, in doubt.

Rovers were already without Darragh Lenihan to a knee injury, which is set to sideline him until after the international break.

Jack Rodwell is also now on the injury list after his run of 10 consecutive Championship starts came to an end against Preston.

Ryan Nyambe and Derrick Williams were used as part of a back three, and could now become the central defensive pairing against the Latics on Tuesday.

“We will be in (on Sunday), we’ll see whether he joins in with everyone or is on his own,” Mowbray said of 27-year-old Rodwell.

“I can’t tell you at the moment, it’s an injury we’re not sure about. It might be one week, could be two, or three.

“We will see how it reacts to treatment and make a call on it.”

On Mulgrew, Mowbray added: “It looks as though it’s his hamstring.

“That will resolve itself over the next few weeks.

“He will go for a scan and we’ll see where we are.”

Rovers are without a clean sheet in seven league matches, and have conceded 15 goals during that time.

Lenihan picked up a knee injury in the defeat at Brentford on February 2 and has missed the following six games.

The 24-year-old won’t be available for either the game with Wigan or Sheffield Wednesday next weekend, and the injury has also kept him out of the Republic of Ireland squad for games with Gibraltar and Georgia

“I think Darragh Lenihan has been a massive loss for this team. He’s a warrior who heads the ball out of our box and back over the halfway line from goal kicks,” Mowbray said.

“That’s a very basic, but a very important part of any football team.

“He’s unavailable, Mulgrew is unavailable, Rodwell is unavailable. I don't want to use excuses though.”

Mowbray felt his side improved defensively against North End, restricting the visitors to two attempts on target.

However, the first of those, saw Daniel Johnson score the only goal of the game in the eighth minute.

The boss said: “I thought Nyambe was really good, fast, strong, powerful, and didn’t give Maguire a kick.

“Thinking about it, apart from a header from a corner, and Gallagher had a shot straight at the ‘keeper, I don’t think they had a shot at goal.

“I felt as if the flow of the game was all going one way, but the result it 1-0.

“We just have to move on.”