Tony Mowbray admits Rovers will have to find new ways of nullifying the opposition without the imposing figure of the injured Darragh Lenihan.

The boss feels the Irishman’s physicality, as well as his speed across the ground, make him unique to his other central defensive options.

Jack Rodwell and Charlie Mulgrew are likely to continue their partnership at Reading tonight, with 24-year-old Lenihan set to be out for up to eight weeks with a knee injury.

And Mowbray believes pressing high and being better when playing out from the back could be key in trying to improve on a defensive record which has seen Rovers concede 31 times in 15 away matches.

The boss said: “I don’t think any of the centre halves really bring the dominance that Lenihan brings physically. I think we have to try and control the ball a little bit from the back if we can and use the quality of the players on the pitch.

“If you haven’t got the power of a Lenihan then you need to take away the opportunities for the opposition to play direct.

“If they have big strikers, that Lenihan could deal with better, probably the best way is to keep the ball off them and press them high and take the quality of the service forward away.

“We’re always working on ways of trying to nullify the strengths of the opposition and play against their weakness.

“The good thing for me is the team want to get better, they want to learn, it’s a learning culture we have.

“What you need is results. We had a good run in January and everyone has to keep believing and working hard and I’m sure we’ll get our rewards in that.”

Meanwhile, Mowbray believes Rovers will face a Reading side rejuvenated under new boss Jose Gomes tonight.

The Portuguese manager replaced Paul Clement in December, and although the Royals remain in the bottom three, they have new found solidity after chalking up back-to-back clean sheets.

Reading have found wins hard to come by, with Mowbray feeling the Royals are playing a similar brand of football as they did in 2016/17 under Jaap Stam when they reached the Championship play-off final.

The Rovers boss said: “Reading have a tough time but having watched them they look a decent football team with some pace at the top end of the pitch.

“They play a lot of football. They have a foreign coach and move the ball around as they did a couple of years ago when Jaap Stam was there they are playing a similar game.

“They beat Nottingham Forest recently, their last couple of games have been 0-0. They are all tough games in this league and this is another opportunity for us to try and get three more points.”