Tony Mowbray admits life has proved difficult since losing two of his first-choice back four to injury.

Rovers lost Greg Cunningham for the season with a knee ligament injury sustained at QPR before the October international break, with the on-loan full back having since undergone surgery.

In his absence, Rovers have gone with three separate options at left back in the five matches he has missed, the same number that Mowbray has had to do without Darragh Lenihan.

Central defender Lenihan also went off injured in the QPR defeat, but has now resumed running and is expected to train with the squad during the international break.

That will push his claims to return to the side for the visit of Barnsley on November 23, seven weeks after sustaining the knee problem.

By then Rovers will have gone more than two months without a clean sheet, the last shut-out coming in the win over Millwall on September 14 which at the time was their fourth in six games.

Rovers have won one of their last eight matches, dropping to 18th in the table, and Mowbray admits it has been a difficult spell.

“The make-up of the back four now isn’t what it was when we were keeping four clean sheets in six at the start of the season,” he said.

“(Greg) Cunningham isn’t available, (Darragh) Lenihan, who is our main header of the ball, isn’t available and it’s not been easy.

“We’re finding a way to lose games unfortunately and yet we’re in every game, they’re all very close and if they fall our way, there’s a different story on the league table for us.”

Meanwhile, Ryan Nyambe will have to ‘settle in quickly’ when he makes his home debut for Namibia this afternoon, according to his national team boss.

Nyambe will be in the Brave Warriors side for the first time since the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Egypt where he played all three group games against Morocco, South Africa and Ivory Coast.

That came after the 21-year-old pledged his allegiance to the country of his birth, with his debut coming in a friendly against Ghana in the lead up to the tournament.

Nyambe had been asked to be left out of the two national team squads since the tournament to focus on winning his place back in the Rovers side.

But with five consecutive club appearances under his belt, interim coach Bobby Samaria is glad to be able to call on Nyambe’s services once again.

He will make his home debut at the Nujoma Stadium when the Brave Warriors face Chad in their 2021 AFCON qualifier.

“As for Nyambe, he will be making his home debut and it’s important that with the help from his teammates, he settles in quickly and do the job for his country,” Samaria said.

“It’s a big game for us to play our first AFCON qualifiers at home. Home games matter so much and we need to show up to ensure we get the job done.

“Lessons were taken from the Zambia defeat and we march on towards qualification for the next AFCON finals.”

Nyambe joined up with his Namibia team-mates 24 hours after they were were beaten by Zambia in a friendly on Sunday.

The Rovers defender is also expected to be in action for the qualifier away to Guinea in Conakry on Sunday before making his return to East Lancashire.