Rovers have fielded six different combinations on the wings in their eight matches so far this season - so is Tony Mowbray still searching for his best combination?

The boss has suggested he will continue to rotate in the wide areas given the amount of work he’s asking his wingers to get through.

Elliott Bennett had been an ever-present on one side prior to Tuesday’s trip to Derby where Craig Conway made a rare start.

Mowbray didn’t sign a natural out-and-out wide player in the summer having seeing a late loan move for Harry Chapman fail to materialise. Three of his summer signings, Adam Armstrong, Kasey Palmer and Joe Rothwell have been rotated on the flanks, but none would class it as their natural position.

And Mowbray has indicated he will keep alternating his players.

“I think those are the players that run the most, that cover the most distance,” he said.

“Every game has data, the players wear GPS and those players usually cover the most distance and do the most high intensity running.

“You talk about rotation and people breaking down, the players we need to be protected because they are the ones most at risk. That will continue to happen.

“I don’t think I have one preferred combination.

“Wide players should all keep working hard. The ones who are doing well and working hard enough, threatening the opposition and doing the job, then I will go with them.”

The most popular combination so far, and the only one to be used more than once, is Bennett and Palmer, with Mowbray opting for that pairing three times.

It was Dominic Samuel, now ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury, and Bennett on the opening day at Ipswich, while Rothwell was Bennett’s partner against Reading, and Armstrong against Aston Villa.

When Bennett played centrally in the Brentford win, Palmer and Rothwell were used out wide.

And when Mowbray opted to hand Bennett a rest against Derby, the boss tried to go with a like for like replacement in Conway. But that lasted just 32 minutes as the Scot was replaced with Armstrong and Palmer moving out wide before Rovers ended with Bennett and Harrison Reed on the flanks.

“It’s largely been Bennett on one side and then balancing that out with an Armstrong or a Palmer on the other side,” Mowbray added.

“We tried to do that the other night with Craig and Kasey, yet when I was thinking about the change Kasey was one who I thought had influenced the game more in that first 30 minutes.

“When I made that substitution it gave us a focal point at the top end of the pitch. It was a difficult decision.

“I make all my decisions from my gut and I thought the problem was that we couldn’t get the ball to the opposite end of the pitch, couldn’t play through them and we needed to go over the top of them.

“Danny Graham was the foil we needed and that’s why we made the change.”