Teenager Mutch tipped to have lengthy impact

The on-loan teenage midfielder stood in for injured captain Brian Stock against Leicester City and his performance drew praise from assistant manager Richard O'Kelly.

"The boy did everything we expected, he has good technique and he is a good athlete," said O'Kelly.

"He shows good confidence for a lad so young and his future is very bright He gets into good areas and was unfortunate not to score."

"If Birmingham want him back they can take him but we are happy for him to stay," he added. "He has mixed in well with the group and is learning all the time.

"He has good character and does all the things you are looking for a professional to do. I think he has big future."

Rovers are nine points adrift of the play-off zone after suffering a second consecutive defeat to the Foxes who moved up to fifth in the table.

O'Kelly would not rule out the possibility of play-off qualification, saying: "We are aiming for as many points as possible.

"If that takes us into the promotion chase, great, if it keeps us out of relegation, that's great as well.

"We definitely should have got something against Leicester because of the effort we put in and we dominated play. Our passing and movement was good."

Rovers are still awaiting the results of scans on midfielder Stock who missed the Leicester game with a back injury.