Seven Rovers players who missed the weekend defeat to Nottingham Forest will train with the squad ahead of the trip to Watford.

Mowbray had to turn to first year professional Luke Brennan to fill the against Forest with 11 players absent, including the four deadline day signings.

Aynsley Pears, Barry Douglas, Tom Trybull and Harvey Elliott trained with their new team-mates for the first time on Monday, and will do so again today where they will be joined by Joe Rankin-Costello, Lewis Holtby and Derrick Williams.

Williams is back with Rovers after being forced to self-isolate in Ireland following international duty, while Holtby was granted extended leave to stay in Germany with his wife and daughter was who was born during the international break.

Rankin-Costello is fit-again after missing the last two games with a hamstring problem and could return, but Joe Rothwell remains sidelined as he continues to self-isolate.

Lewis Travis and Elliott Bennett are longer-term absentees, while Mowbray predicts Bradley Dack should be in a position to return to the fold after the November international break.

Williams might not make the Watford trip, having not trained since being forced into self-isolation, but Mowbray was pleased to welcome him back into the fold.

“Derrick Williams is back from Ireland today, on the grass, he’s been isolating so we’ll have to assess him,” he explained.

“I’m not sure whether he’ll be ready, we’ll wait and see after training.

“He was in my office this morning, it’s his first day back, his last day of quarantine was yesterday, but we’ll have to get him with his boots on, some air in his lungs again, get him moving and kicking a football.

“He’ll be doing that again, but we’ll wait and see. He’s not been injured, he did say that he did feel unwell for a day or two but we’ll integrate him back into the squad and that will be a big boost because he played a big part for us in the early season.”

The four new recruits joined in with their team-mates for the first time in Monday’s double session, though Mowbray has voiced a note of caution about them, given their lack of game-time.

Between them, the four have played just 157 minutes of football this season, with German midfielder Trybull having featured just six times for Norwich in 2020.

But the manager has already been impressed by their quality, and admits a shortage of numbers could see them involved sooner than he would have anticipated.

He added: “Harvey Elliott, he’s trained yesterday, his talent is there for us all to see. He’s a nice kid.

“How much work they (Douglas and Trybull) have done, how many games they’ve played, I have to try and manage them into our set-up.

“I can see their qualities, but it’s not as simple as bring them in and two days later throw them straight into the team. It doesn’t quite work like that.

“Tom Trybull has played six times in 2020 and here we are in the middle of October, it’s not as if he’s had loads of game-time and is super fit.

“Footballers have to be fit, every club this day works ever meterage during the week on how much ground they’ve covered in the games, in training, and Tom is someone who has to build up his metres.

“But like Harvey you can see on the training ground that he brings a lot of quality, a lot of good decision making, the quality of his passing is a really standard and we’re looking forward to integrating them as the weeks roll on.”

Rankin-Costello started the opening three Championship fixtures, but limped out of the 4-0 defeat of Derby before the international break which ruled him out of the last two.

The 21-year-old offers the manager versatility, able to play in the defensive, midfield or attacking positions, but Mowbray feels the youngster’s body has taken some time to adapt to the intensity of the hectic Championship programme.

“Just about. Rankin-Costello has been out for three-and-a-half weeks, I haven’t seen him on the grass really,” Mowbray said.

“Those are the calls I have to make. He’s coming back from an injury. Do you throw him straight in to a high intensity game away from home at Watford? We could do with him to be fair.

“He played in the 5-0 and 4-0 and was very integral in them, but we have to cautious.

“He’s a young lad who’s coming from Under-23s football and now being exposed to the intensity of playing in the Championship every three days, I think his body has found that difficult.

“Ultimately he’s broken down a few times for us. He needs managing I would suggest, but he’s very much part of the training today and moving forward. It’s great to him back with the versatility he brings.”

Holtby meanwhile, returned to East Lancashire on Monday, training for the first time since returning to Germany during the first week of the international break to attend the birth of his daughter.

Mowbray gave the German midfield his blessing to travel home, and believes Holtby will more than repay that over the course of the season, and could be involved again tomorrow night.

“Lewis Holtby has never been injured, his was really a decision I made for Lewis and his family who are in Germany,” Mowbray added.

“She chose to have her child in Germany, surrounded by her family, and I thought it was the right thing to let Lewis go there.

“It was a difficult process she went there and I allowed to be around his wife, his newborn child and his family and I think, for me, it was the right thing to do.

“It was disappointing that we lost at the weekend without him but moving forward I think Lewis will give us back in spades with the work ethic and talent that he brings.

“We’re looking forward to having him back, he’s back working, training, he is enthusiastic as ever and we’re looking forward to having him back.”

Meanwhile, captain Bennett underwent surgery yesterday on an ankle ligament injury sustained in training last week, and should be ruled out for the remainder of 2020.

He wrote on social media: “Just a quick update, delighted to say my operation in London was a success yesterday. Time for the body to start the healing process then I will attack my rehab head on to be back as soon as humanly possible! In the meantime I will be supporting the boys any other way I can.”