Rovers have now amassed 322 games since relegation from the Premier League in 2011/12. In that time, 12 players have started matches at right back, or wing-back.

It’s a position in which Rovers have struggled to nail down, with Ryan Nyambe’s 69 league starts the most of any player. Those have come across three seasons since breaking in to the side, but Nyambe is yet to make that position his own.

His non-inclusion at times this season has been a talking point for many, with Tony Mowbray having preferred Elliott Bennett later in the season, despite it not being his natural position.

And that is symptomatic of Rovers’ right back issues of the last seven seasons, with many of those who have operated there not a natural in that role.

Following the departure of Paul Caddis, Bennett has become the most natural replacement, or challenger, to Nyambe.

While Nyambe’s  physical attributes cannot be questioned, work on his final ball, and competency in possession, remain a work in progress. But given his longevity around the first team squad, it is easy to forget he is just 21.

Goals conceded from balls played inside his channel in games at Preston and at home to Birmingham late in 2018 proved costly in him losing his place, as did struggles with hamstring injury.

He was rewarded with a new contract last month, but only for an additional 12 months, which raised questions in itself.

He and Bennett both started 22 matches this season, with Nyambe having a stint at centre half, while Bennett regularly switched roles.

Defenders are on Mowbray’s summer wishlist, as he looks for Rovers to improve on a record that saw them concede 69 times in 26 matches. Central defence may well take priority, but the full back areas have been a cause for concern at times this season.

And at right back, they certainly date back further than this season, with Rovers struggling for consistency in selection, and for a natural option, with a number of players somewhat filling in.

Nyambe, named in the provisional Namibia squad ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations, managed 25 starts in 2017/18, with Caddis (13) and Bennett (8) making up the rest.

Indeed, no player in the past seven seasons has started as many games as that in a single season at right back.

In 2016/17 Nyambe (22) headed the list, more than Jason Lowe (15), Ben Marshall (7) and Adam Henley (2). Henley is second only to Nyambe in terms of starts over that period (61), but never topped the list of starters in a single season.

Marshall, a winger by trade, made 25 in 2015/16, with Henley (19).

In 2014/15, Alex Baptiste (20), then on loan from Bolton started more than Henley (7), Lowe  (7) and Marshall (5).

In 2013/14 it was another loanee, Todd Kane, who made the most with 23, while Michael Keane also chalked up eight appearances. Kane was also on loan in 2012/13, making 13 starts, the same number as Henley, with Bradley Orr topping the list with 17.

Mowbray will need to weigh up whether to give Nyambe his full confidence, or indeed move in to the market for a right back this summer. The same could well go for the left back spo. Amari'i Bell has 12 months left on his deal, and with Derrick Williams likely to become more of an option in central defence, could that be on the boss' shopping list as well.

  • Starts since 2012: Nyambe 69, Henley 61, Marshall 38, Kane 36, Bennett 30, Lowe 26, Baptiste 20, Orr 17, Caddis 13, Keane 8, Reed 2, Ribeiro 2