TONY Mowbray is hopeful of adding a new midfielder to his ranks as he looks to increase competition in that area of the park.

Despite impressive performances from Richie Smallwood and Corry Evans in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup win at Coventry, Mowbray later revealed he is still looking to boost his midfield ranks.

And he is hopeful of getting a deal done ahead of Saturday’s first home game of the season against Doncaster.

Mowbray is mindful of a lack of numbers at his disposal, with injuries already starting to hit despite the new season being less than a week old.

And in a bid not to leave himself short in a key area, Mowbray is confident that a deal is there to be done.

Strengthening in the middle of the park was a key priority of Mowbray’s this summer following the departures of Jason Lowe, Hope Akpan and Danny Guthrie. Peter Whittingham and Smallwood were his first two signings through the door, but the Rovers boss is still looking for another to add to his squad.

“Hopefully we will bring in another midfielder to add competition to Smallwood, Whittingham and Evans,” Mowbray said.

Smallwood scored his first goal in Rovers colours at the Ricoh Arena to put his side 2-1 up just after the half hour mark, with Evans scoring the opener in a 3-1 win.

“I think you get a seven-and-a-half out or eight out of 10 from Richie Smallwood every game,” Mowbray said.

“He’s the voice in the dressing room before we go out, the one clapping and encouraging and talking about what’s required.

“He’s the voice of the team and he plays like his personality.

“I’ve talked about artists and soldiers and you would stick a big brand on Richie’s forehead saying soldier.

“He goes around tackling everyone on the pitch, he passes it well enough, he never stops running, recovers and gets in to good areas, and when you ally that to the technical ability of a Corry Evans or Peter Whittingham it’s not a bad combination.”

Smallwood and Whittingham were given the nod to start the opening league game of the season, with Evans having to settle for a place on the bench.

Mowbray turned to the Northern Irishman just after the hour mark as Rovers looked for a way back in to match, and he completed 70 minutes of the league cup win on Tuesday.

That was Evans’ first start in a Rovers shirt since December 2016, while his goal ended a near two year wait to find the back of the net.

“You can see how influential he is to our team yet he didn’t even start the other day,” he added.

“I felt as though that was because of the pre-season.

“He missed all of my period at the football club at the end of last season, didn’t play a game, he missed practically the week in Austria and I felt as though he has to work his way in to the team.

“Yet he showed me that it’s very difficult to leave him out of the team because of his talent, his ability in tight areas, his ability to pick passes and without being a Smallwood he’s clever, intercepts the ball so there’s competition.”