Blackburn Rovers boss Tony Mowbray looks ahead at 'tough' trip to Sheffield Wednesday without top scoring talisman

Steven Fletcher is out for at least two months with a knee injury suffered in the Owls’ impressive FA Cup third round win at Brighton and Rovers’ Bradley Dack, who has 10 goals this season, is out for ‘much of 2020’ after undergoing surgery on his anterior cruciate ligaments.

And while the Owls bounced back from the blow in style with a resounding 2-0 win at Leeds United, the Lancashire side have had less joy, going five matches without a win since Dack’s last appearance in their 2-0 win at Bristol City in mid-December.

Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray, who has watched his goal-shy side score 10 goals in their last nine matches, admitted players need to step up in the absence of their top marksman ahead of a tough run of fixtures.

Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph, he said: “We’ve had huge injury problems before or during some of the games we’ve lost in recent weeks and that’s been a major reason as to why we’ve not been at our maximum.”

“It’s all about the end product, whether that be goals and assists, that’s what it’s all about at the top end of the pitch.

“It’s not easy to replace Dack’s goals, but he’s not available. So let’s get on with it.”

And the 56-year-old knows the coming fortnight is hugely important for the mid-table side.

He said: “Our next three games sees us go to Sheffield Wednesday, host Queens Park Rangers and then travel to Middlesbrough, so we have a tough couple of weeks coming up.

“That’s off the back of a tough couple of results that, even though the team played well in these recent away games, bar at Huddersfield Town where we were stodgy, we didn’t get what we deserved.

“We now need to focus our attentions to Hillsborough and see if we can keep the points tally ticking along and surpass last year’s tally of 60 points with the 19 games we have left.”