Top scorer Adam Armstrong’s absence can’t be held as an excuse for Rovers’ struggles infront of goal, says Tony Mowbray.

Rovers have managed just 12 goals in their last 17 games, and were without their 20-goal frontman for a fifth game in six as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at Wycombe Wanderers.

Mowbray’s men were the league’s top scorers for much of the first half of the season but things have dried up drastically since, and coincided with a run of just seven points from the last 13 matches.

Rovers hope to have Armstrong back for today’s game with Bournemouth, but Mowbray says that will only be if he is 100 per cent fit, and won’t guarantee a change in fortunes.

“Adam Armstrong’s presence in the side helps our team, but I don’t think his absence is relevant to the lack of goals.

“Adam has also played in teams when we’ve lost 1-0 this year as well, it’s not as if Adam not playing means we don’t score.”

Rovers have continued to enjoy plenty of possession but remain unable to find a way of breaking teams down, particularly when going a goal behind.

Armstrong’s pace, and finishing ability, was key to their early season goalscoring form, but as teams becoming accustomed to that tactic, Rovers have been unable to adjust.

“If you have most of the ball and get beat then no-one is interested in having most of the ball, football is about sticking the ball in the net and if you have a guy who can do that even if you don’t play well, he’s missed,” Mowbray added.

The positive for Rovers is that Armstrong (below) has trained in the lead-up to today’s game, but had ahead of the Wycombe trip where he didn’t travel, having also missed out against Norwich City before the international.

His appearance against Bristol City came after missing three matches, but absent from the next two, Mowbray admits that has set him back, having first felt the injury in the defeat at Reading on March 2.

“He trained on Thursday and we took a collective decision as staff that it was too early to risk him. We tried that against Bristol City recently, and it set him back a few weeks,” Mowbray explained.

“We didn’t want to throw him in for the sake of it, because, if things aren’t quite right, it could cause him to miss even more games, so we tried to give him the extra rest.

“If he tells me that he feels fine and he’s not worried, the physio department tell me that he’s not worried, then he’ll play.

“We hope that Adam will be back for Monday’s game against Bournemouth, but we need to make sure he’s feeling 100 per cent before we throw him back in, because as I’ve said, we don’t want to risk him.”