Craig Conway scored just a second goal of the season in the defeat at Hillsborough and has started just seven Championship matches. Only two of those have come at Ewood Park.

For Tony Mowbray, the boss sees the dedication of the 33-year-old every day in training and admits that Conway is never far from his thoughts when it comes to selecting a team.

Elliott Bennett, also a scorer in the Sheffield Wednesday defeat, and Conway are the most natural wing options in the Rovers squad. But while Bennett’s versatility seen him used in the full back, or wing back positions, for much of the season, Conway has been squeezed out by Mowbray’s preference to go with a ‘wide striker’.

At the start of last season, it was Dominic Samuel and Marcus Antonsson, both who finished on eight goals, before Adam Armstrong hit nine in the second half of the campaign, and another eight so far this season, to nail down a wide spot in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Harrison Reed, more naturally a central midfielder, has been getting the nod on the opposite side, leaving Conway as something of a bit-part figure.

But Mowbray admitted: “I speak to Craig a lot to be honest because he does train like a Trojan every day.

“The balance of the team, Armstrong has been playing wide and brought goals, then I’ve gone with Bradley and Danny.

“Off the other side it’s generally been a Bennett or a Conway, but Harrison Reed has been in the mix this year. He can obviously play central so when I’ve not gone with him there, I’ve generally tucked him in off the right-had side and then Bennett behind him.

“That’s the balance I have to get right.

“Does he play in front of Armstrong? Does he play in front of Reed? I haven’t been picking him there.

“But he’s a very talented footballer who works extremely hard for the team.”

Conway’s starts have tended to come when Rovers have named much-changed sides, such as the games away at West Brom and Sheffield United, while he was replaced just half an hour in to the 0-0 draw at Derby in September.

He showed just what he can offer though with a terrific display in the 4-2 home win over the Owls in December, before injury struck.

Getting a regular run of games has been difficult, and will surely come in to his, and the club’s, thinking with the one year deal he signed last summer coming to an end.

But an impressive display as a wing back, off the bench, against Wigan, and a goalscoring outing last weekend, will have done his chances no harm when Rovers return to action after the international break on March 30.

Boss Mowbray added: “These occasions when they come along, he’s right at the forefront of my mind when you want to change something.

“We’ve not been in a position where we can change on a position of strength after winning two games on the bounce.

“But Craig is always in my thoughts, whether he gets selected or not.”