Rovers boss Tony Mowbray was pleased with his side’s opening pre-season workout as they ran out 2-1 winners at Barrow.

The visitors took the lead through an own goal from a triallist on the quarter hour only for Scott Quigley to level for the Bluebirds seven minutes before the break.

Joe Nuttall fired home the winner on 64 minutes on a day where Mowbray fielded different sides in each half with only goalkeeper Andrew Fisher playing the full 90 minutes.

The second half team included free agent Charlie Adam who has been training with the club.

“You’ve got to remember it’s a big game for Barrow,” Mowbray said.

“There’s a lot of young players in their side, very athletic, very energetic, young Lewis Hardcastle was out there playing for them who we’d had for the last couple of years.

“He was probably making a point and played very well.

“You hope that you come to places like Barrow and with no disrespect to them, hope you score a few goals and enjoy the match.

“They always make it difficult and a couple of years ago before our League One campaign we came here and Danny Graham scored in the last minute to win 2-1.

“It’s never going to be easy but it was okay.

“I want to win every game and there were lots of positives and lots of things still to work on.

“We got a lot of players 45 minutes of football and a lot young players played of course with the internationals not ready to join in just yet.”

The first half didn’t see Rovers at their free-flowing best. They were more control in the second and in the end should have won by a greater margin, Nuttall having chances to add to his tally and Adam Armstrong seeing chances come and go.

“It was okay. It can be frustrating on a sticky pitch at times,” said Mowbray.

“The pitch looked good when we go here and it is good, there’s a lot of grass on it.

“We’ve got no complaints about it, they’ve done fantastically well to produce such a good surface, it’s just a bit sticky that’s all.

“It’s a hot day, it’s difficult for the players, it’s sticking a little bit on the pitch and you’d like to move it around a bit quicker.

“But I understand the restrictions clubs like Barrow have in trying to provide us with a lovely slick pitch to play on.

“In the second half we had a lot of experience in there.

“I think Charlie Adam showed what a high-quality footballer he can be with his distribution of the ball which allowed us to get control of the game.”