Blackburn boss says Doncaster Rovers are 'on the right journey'

Mowbray was full of praise for Doncaster as he prepares to welcome them to Ewood Park on Saturday.

“We know the opposition are in really good form, I think they sit around the top of the division and have scored the most goals," he said.

“They have some good footballers, they attack and can score goals, so hopefully it’ll be a good game.

“They have a good structure to them, they’re confident and have a young and athletic element to their team.

“They’re on the right journey and play some very good football.

“I know their team really well, they have some fantastic footballers and Darren’s doing a great job.

“I think it’s two attack-minded strategies this weekend and it’ll be a good game."

Mowbray confirmed he will be without nine players for this weekend’s game but plans to hand a first start of the season to the influential Bradley Dack, who continues his comeback from a cruciate ligament injury suffered last season.

Lewis Holtby and Ryan Nyambe are among those who will miss the clash with Rovers.

Mowbray believes Blackburn will benefit from a rare week-long gap between matches and is keen for his players to be switched onto the task, with a place in the fourth round up for grabs.

“The positive is that we’ve had a break coming into the game, which has given us an opportunity to give the players a few days of rest," he said.

“We’ve come out of that mentality of a game every three days, where we were constantly in video analysis rooms looking at the opposition or in team meetings.

“It’s been a slog, so they have had a few days away and now the next game’s coming. It’s a different match, although it’s not a game where we can relax.

“It’s still a football match, it’s the FA Cup and a game where we might look at one or two changes.

“But we’re not going to jeopardise our opportunity to progress in the cup."

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