Tony Mowbray believes Rovers are showing all the battling qualities necessary to arrest their poor run of form.

Mowbray shrugged off any suggestions of a lack of confidence, or workrate, from his side despite them suffering a sixth defeat in seven matches following defeat to Preston last time out

The boss acknowledges ‘six poor weeks’ has threatened to undo ‘six fantastic months’, but wants a strong finish to the season.

Rovers host Wigan Athletic tonight, themselves on a poor run of results, and visit Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday before a two-week international break.

“The frustration for us is six fantastic months and then six poor weeks. We’ve wasted a lot of effort that was put in to the season,” said Mowbray who will be without injured captain Charlie Mulgrew. “We have to make sure we stick together and finish the season as strong as we can. There are a lot of points still to play for.

“What I see on the grass is still a team fighting for every point and working really hard for each other.

“Let’s look forward to these games and get some wins quickly.

“That will give us an opportunity to play some young players because as I’ve said, there are some players in the Under-23s that we believe in the future can be regular first team players.”

Rovers start the day in 17th, but having been in the top half for much of the season, will aim for a strong finish in their quest to consolidate following promotion last term.

Mowbray added: “We have to finish as strong as we can and build for next year.

“We were only ever going to approach each game and try and be competitive. When you are asked the question ‘what are your ambitions this year?’ the only thing was to compete in every game and generally we’ve done okay.

“Over the longer piece, six weeks ago we were two places off the play-offs and there was a real positivity, but the last few weeks have been a huge disappointment and frustration for us.”

Injuries in defence haven’t helped Rovers’ cause but despite picking up just one point from seven matches, Mowbray said he has seen no let-up in effort.

“There is a huge frustration in them, but also a huge desire for them to put it right,” the boss said.

“I thought the evidence was there at the weekend, although the result wasn’t right.

“For a long time at home we were almost invincible, but we’ve lost some really tight football matches against some decent teams.

“Let’s keep believing, stick together, and as I’ve said over recent weeks, we have to strengthen.

“If this season is about consolidation in the Championship then in the very near future we want to push on and be a threat in this league.”