Tony Mowbray feels Rovers are left playing catch up after a disrupted start to the season as he hopes the post-international break period can lead to more positive results.

Rovers head to Luton Town tomorrow with the Hatters sitting three points and two places above them in the standings, though a first ever league win at Kenilworth Road would see Mowbray’s men leapfrog them on goal difference.

Victory over QPR before the break moved Rovers back into the top half, albeit just two points above Nottingham Forest in 20th. Mowbray has set his sights higher than mid-table, and will hope that his side unavailability issues will clear up to enable them to push towards the top six where there is currently a five-point gap.

“They’re obviously above us in the league and, because of the injuries and Covid incidents we’ve had at the football club, we’re playing a little bit of catch up and we identify this as one we need to go and be really positive and aggressive in,” Mowbray said of this weekend’s game.

“Our aim is to go and win every match, but some games are more difficult on paper than others, and at this moment Luton looks a pretty difficult game.

“They’ve had some decent results and they’re working extremely hard, they have a set way of playing, they're good from set plays, as they showed against us last season, they’re a threat. We’re mindful of that.

“Our intention is to go and win, and our intention is to always beat teams we feel that we should beat. Then against teams we know it will be a tough game against we go and try and make life really difficult and try and win as well, but keep it more solid.

“We’ll be going to Luton with the intention of being really positive, as you would expect and every fan would expect, as do I and the players will have an expectation they have to do that as well.

“No doubt listening to this the Luton management will say ‘okay, let’s see’, and that’s okay because it’s a competition and we have our own identity, our own ambitions and we have to go to most grounds and make them feel our quality, our mobility and our intent.”

Rovers were beaten twice by Luton last season following promotion from League One. They were 2-1 victors at Ewood Park, the winner scored by former Rovers youngster Matty Pearson.

When the sides met at Kenilworth Road in July, Luton secured their Championship status with a 3-2 victory, despite having just one shot on target, that being James Collins’ penalty.

Hayden Carter and Bradley Johnson both put through their own net from set pieces, with four of Luton’s five goals against Rovers last season coming via that route, something Mowbray knows they will need to guard against.

He was full of praise for opposite number Nathan Jones who guided the club to four wins and three draws from their nine post-lockdown matches to stay up following his return to the club in June.

And now sitting in 10th, with 16 points, Mowbray said of the visitors: “Remarkable to keep them up, it looked as though they were doomed.

“Luton is a club with big history, I don’t get fooled by ‘little Luton’, Mick Harford is still there, he’s a big guy who elbowed me a few times in my career, but a respectful guy, an awesome centre forward.

“They have some tradition, I played on the plastic pitch in the 1980s and they’re working their way back.

“But we will go to Luton in a positive frame of mind and they know we’ll go and attack and try and score goals.

“They have a way of playing, Nathan is a clever coach, he’s very passionate, vocal on the touchline, emotional about his team, and it’s working for him at the moment.”