Tony Mowbray believes Joe Rothwell may well be tired of his constant demands for more productivity in the final third – but the Rovers attacker hopes to have gone some way to answering that with his equaliser off the bench in the 1-1 draw with West Brom.

The Rovers boss said he had told Rothwell until he was “blue in the face” that he needed to add more goals and assists to his game having likened his talent to Brentford’s Said Benrahma, whose 17 goals this season have seen him recognised as one of the division’s standout performers.

Rothwell by comparison was without a goal, and had just one assist, in the Championship before scoring with his first touch to draw Rovers level against West Brom.

Mowbray said: “He probably doesn’t like me! I’ve been talking to him about Said Benrahma, what can he do that Joe Rothwell can’t do?”

Rothwell responded by saying: “I don’t think I can get sick of it, I think it’s just his nature to have him shouting and driving people on. If I kick on and put the ball in the net it might make him not shout as much.”

Mowbray made a quadruple change midway through the second half as Rovers trailed the Baggies, and saw them have an immediate impact.

Sam Gallagher’s break down the right saw him square for Rothwell who timed his run to perfection to slide the ball in to the corner with his first touch.

It was a first Championship goal since back-to-back strikes against Derby and Nottingham Forest last April, and only second of the season after netting in the Carabao Cup win against Oldham Athletic.

It was a 14th substitute appearance of the season for Rothwell, the second most in the Rovers squad, and he made a telling impact, also creating a chance which almost saw Lewis Holtby snatch the three points late on.

“I think when you’re coming on and you’re trailing in a game your first thought is to make the impact that we did. Obviously Sam made the assist and I got the goal so it was a great impact,” he added.

“It’s not really fallen for me in games but that was a nice one, probably harder to miss than score, and nice to slot away.”

Mowbray has made the Benrahma comparison with Rothwell, believing the 25-year-old possesses the same qualities as the Algerian who has taken the league by storm.

But he says the former Manchester United youngster must start backing up his talent with the statistics in a bid to become a more regular starter.

“He’s just as fast, travels with the ball, but that kid has 17 goals and that’s Joe’s first,” the manager added.

“He has to for himself, and this team, score more goals and create more chances and get in goalscoring areas.

“Thankfully that penny dropped and he finished a great chance off for us.”

Rovers have now matched last season’s tally of 60 points, but will be keen to kick on in the remaining three games, even if the play-offs may be beyond them.

Rothwell hasn’t given up hope, but knows it will require a 100 per cent record from their remaining matches if they are to have any chance, starting with tomorrow’s trip to Millwall where he will hope to earn a recall.

“You never know, three games left you don’t know what can happen,” he explained.

“We could win all three and see where that leaves us. You’re always going to look back at games and be disappointed where you could have won more points, but also games where you’ve probably nicked points where you probably didn’t deserve to.

“All in all, if we can get three wins from the last three games then I think we can be pretty happy with the season.”