There may have been no new arrivals at Rovers in this January transfer window, but there seems no shortage of fresh impetus.

A third consecutive Championship win, for the first time in almost four years, has moved them back in to the top half of the league and follows a run of three successive defeats.

It was always expected that Lewis Travis and Joe Nuttall would be playing senior football come the third weekend of January, though out on loan rather than at Rovers.

Drafted in from the Under-23s, Travis has added a drive and a determination to the middle of the park, while Nuttall continues his happy knack of finding the back of the net.

Added to that, Adam Armstrong is starting to add some end product to his undoubted assets and now has two goals and three assists in his last three matches. At the other end of the pitch, Jack Rodwell has shown his versatility, and quality, as a Rovers back four who had shown far too many frailties towards the back end of 2018 have now conceded just once in three matches.

Tony Mowbray has continued to stress his loyalty to this group, and that appears to be paying off as he resists the temptation to go in to the market for now.

The question marks going in to the game of Rovers’ ability to go again after an energy sapping FA Cup replay against Newcastle United in midweek.

They would have been handed the perfect start in the sixth minute, when after good pressing allowed Travis to feed Danny Graham, only for his shot to be fired wide via a deflection.

But the intensity took a dip thereafter, a five minute spell apart which could have seen them score three times. Bradley Dack picked out the run of Elliott Bennett, only for the onrushing full back to fire over on the stretch. Rodwell then turned a scuffed Corry Evans shot on to the post, while Armstrong shot too closely to Dean Gerken.

There was a let off in defence, just before the break, in a rare sight of goal for the visitors as Darragh Lenihan was caught on his heels allowing Will Keane a run on goal. He rounded David Raya, choosing to stay on his feet, only for his touch to take him wide of goal as Rovers scrambled back.

A positive change at the break for Rovers saw Joe Rothwell introduced, but Ipswich’s likely gameplan of getting to the hour mark with the scores level was achieved.

However, Armstrong, moved to the right after a largely ineffective first half on the left, burst in behind to collect a Dack flick soon and was tripped by Callum Elder. Danny Graham showed all his experience, not put off by Luke Chambers unsportingly taking a chunk out of the penalty spot, to roll the ball home from 12 yards.

Joe Nuttall had been stripped and ready to come on just before that, with the 21-year-old eventually introduced eight minutes later. And he was soon celebrating his third of the season, turning in an Armstrong cross with a first touch at the end of a move which owed much to a fine Elliott Bennett pass.

The scoreline could have looked more favourable for Rovers after that. Rothwell struck the post with a sweep left foot strike before Dack went agonisingly close with two separate shots from the edge of the box.

There was a scare before the end when they looked to have thrown their clean sheet away. Bennett tried to shield the ball back to Raya, only for the ball to land at the feet of substitute Jack Lankester whose shot was blocked by the chest of the sprawling Bennett, despite the visitors’ protests for a penalty.

The win moves Rovers to 10th, their highest league position since the 4-2 victory over Sheffield Wednesday on December 1.

You can throw a blanket over the teams from Hull in eighth, to Stoke in 15th, with just two points separating them. But Rovers are in the top half mix, with a squad of players of which there is plenty of development to be had. You can ask for no more than that.