Danny Graham was substituted for tactical reasons at Wigan Athletic on Wednesday night, Rovers boss Tony Mowbray explained.

Graham, brought on at the interval against Preston last weekend, was taken off at the break at the DW Stadium as Mowbray sent on Derrick Williams.

And the boss says the midweek decision, which saw Adam Armstrong play as the central striker, was in a bid to gain more control in a game which lacked any real fluency from either side.

But Mowbray says the 33-year-old remains a crucial part of his plans moving forward.

“We needed to control the match more,” he said of the switch. “The game had become like a game of tennis. We were kicking it long, they were booting it back.

“We weren’t getting any joy, we weren’t creating any chances.

“It was a tough decision, but I took Danny off because I wanted to control the game more and dominate the ball.

“I brought another centre half on because they were going direct and I wanted to have more men around the ball when it dropped.

“I thought we’d have the width, move them around and keep the ball off them to stop them knocking it in to our box.

“Armstrong would then utilise the spaces down the side of two big centre halves, so that was the crux of the substitution.

“Danny coming off was the option I took and as I’ve said before, when you get beat everyone can question what you do.

“Danny Graham came off at half time for tactical reasons, but I’m aware he’s at the forefront of what we do and is very important.

“What we were doing wasn’t working so my job as a manager is to do something to try and help the team.”