Darragh Lenihan has praised boss Tony Mowbray as the Rovers defender hopes to make his international debut this evening.

Lenihan could win a first senior cap for the Republic of Ireland tonight as they take on France in Paris (8pm), the first of two friendlies this week.

The 24-year-old is in Martin O’Neill’s 26-man squad for tonight’s game and Saturday’s visit of the USA as he looks to establish himself in the national set-up.

And while his current focus is on his Irish aims, Lenihan believes Mowbray deserves credit for the transformation of Rovers as they prepare for their return to the Championship which will only help boost his national team claims.

“It has been some turnaround and that is full credit to the manager,” Lenihan said.

“He has brought in some good players and we’ve all pulled together.

“He’s brilliant. He’s very understanding and intelligent the way that he goes about his business.

“His win percentage must be very high and next year will be a big one for us and the club.

“We can look forward to the Championship next season.

“I have played quite a few games in the Championship and I can’t wait.

“This club doesn’t deserve to be in League One.

“It’s a Championship/Premier League club with the history, it’s fantastic and hopefully we can be use this positivity around the club to spur us on.”

Lenihan and Rovers team-mate Derrick Williams will hope to feature this evening, having done so against a Celtic XI as part of Scott Brown’s testimonial earlier this month.

The pair may be afforded extra time off in pre-season given their international exertions but Lenihan is already focused on next season.

Injury restricted him to just 14 appearances in the promotion winning campaign and he is hoping for an upturn in fortunes next term.

And with a team full of players with Championship experience, and those looking to test themselves at the next level, the defender believes the Rovers squad has a good blend to it.

He said: “There’s a good mixture of youth and experience.

“The manager has done great bringing the players in and hopefully he can do that over the summer and by next year you never know how we could do?

“We knew it was to be a tough league, we didn’t have a great start but the manager was confident in us and prepared us well for every game.

“That helped us get the results we needed at a critical stage of the season.

“Our main objective was getting promotion whether it was first or second.

“First would have been a bonus but we achieved our objective and will move on in to the Championship and hopefully have a good season next year.”