Rovers two goals from central midfielders this season means they have already matched the tally from the last three campaigns.

While some may see the days of a goalscoring midfielder as good as over, it is certainly an area from which Rovers can contribute more from, and may well need to.

Of course, the four Championship strikes from Bradley Dack, as well as his 15 league goals last season and 18 in the League One promotion campaign, have to be taken in to consideration given he couldn’t really be classed as either a midfielder or a striker, his role in the side described as ‘unique’ by boss Tony Mowbray.

For that reason, behind him, Rovers have largely gone with two more attritional players.

Looking back, Hope Akpan and Danny Guthrie contributed two goals between them in 2016/17, with the latter’s coming on the final day as Rovers were relegated.

The League One promotion season, Richie Smallwood bagged in wins at Rochdale and Fleetwood, while last season, one of Harrison Reed’s three goals came when playing as a central midfielder, with Lewis Travis opening his account for the club in the penultimate match of 2018/19 at Norwich.

So far, Travis grabbed an equaliser against Luton last month, while Bradley Johnson got up and running in Rovers colours in the defeat at West Brom in August and in the opening month did go close on several occasions.

Rovers will need to replace the goals of Charlie Mulgrew, his 24 from central defence, largely from set plays, given they were such a luxury before his departure on-loan to Wigan.

But Mowbray explained: “I’m not sure Lewis could score half a dozen goals, but that could come down to his role and who you play alongside him.

“If you give Lewis the licence to use his legs and athleticism and go box-to-box, break in to the opposition box and have a defensive-minded midfielder behind him then there’s no reason why not.

“He can recover back in to midfield areas and help the midfield area function, but I think modern football in the 21st century has become more of a positional game

“There are the two sitting midfielders, or one holding midfielder and two No.8s as they are called who play just behind the single striker and two wingers outside of them.

“It’s very positional, people know who goes in to the box, knows who stops the counter-attacks, what does the opposition full back do when you’re attacking down one side, does he go, stand in his position, or push in to midfield and let someone go and break the box? It’s a lot of tactical stuff.”

Stewart Downing has added a little more craft to the middle of the park when operating centrally, with his partnership with Corry Evans the fifth different combination Mowbray has gone with so far.

Travis was missed in the QPR defeat, absent with a minor hamstring injury, but would like to add more goals to his game should the opportunity arise, as it did against Luton with an excellent strike from the edge of the box.

“I think I need to shoot more, that’s something I have talked about with the coaching staff,” the 21-year-old said.

“I thought it was worth having a go and took it.

“It was a really good strike, I’ll keep practicing and it’s something I would like to add to my game.

“I’ve normally been more of a defensive player, as a midfielder lately, but growing up I was mainly a right back growing up.

“That goal has given me the confidence to try and add that to my game.”

Rovers have largely gone with a 4-2-3-1 formation under Mowbray, despite the modern way being more 4-3-3.

That is largely to accommodate Dack within the side, and Mowbray says what he is asking of his midfield players is unlikely to see them able to pitch in with a higher quantity of goals.

Instead, he is keen to see them control the game from behind the ball, as well as dominating with it.

He added: “Teams work on that and I think if you’re pigeon-holed as a defensive midfield player then the work you do throughout the week doesn’t allow you to get in the box, to get that high up the pitch because you have to try and stop the position when you’ve got the ball and when you lose it you stop them getting forward, running through the middle of the pitch.

“Lewis at times has been asked to stop counter-attacks and transition, he puts out fires very well. It depends on who he’s playing alongside, whether it be Bradley Johnson or Corry Evans. Some days he might be pressing higher up trying to stop their ball-player, smother him and take it off him high up the pitch.

“Different games, different teams we play against, different roles.

“But you would hope that your centre forward, your No.10, wingers, score the majority of goals for you.”