A good season, not a great one, was Bradley Dack’s assessment of Rovers’ campaign so far.

But the club’s top scorer admits it could have been so much better given the platform they gave themselves with a perfect January.

Rovers were on the cusp of the top six after four straight wins earlier this year, but a run of four points from nine games has seen them slide down the table.

For Dack, he says Rovers must learn from this situation so to take advantage should a similar opportunity arise next season.

But with eight games left to go, the 25-year-old says the focus is about putting as many points on the board as possible to build momentum for next season.

“In reality it’s been a good season, not a great season. Seven weeks ago you could have said it’s a great season so far,” said 15-goal Dack.

“It could have been something else, but maybe we just weren’t quite good enough to get there.

“There are some good teams and some good players in this league and we were playing in the one below last season.

“It’s been tough, but something we’ve learned from. All the boys will say the same thing and hopefully we can get to the same point next season where come February we’re around the top six, it won’t happen again.”

Rovers were 2-0 up at Brentford in their first game of February, but after the Bees hit back with five unanswered goals, things have gone from bad to worse to Tony Mowbray’s side.

Injuries to key defenders hasn’t helped, but it’s been a chastening period for Rovers who have tasted defeat in seven of their last nine fixtures.

And Dack added: “The last six or seven weeks haven’t gone to plan and we don’t want our hard work to go to waste over the course of the season.

“It’s something we’ve been working hard on during the break and making sure we give a good account of ourselves in these last eight games and climb the season and make this season turn out a good one.”

Dack’s goals have also dried up of late, his goal in the win over Wigan on March 12 his only strike since netting in the Brentford defeat on February 2, his longest draught since joining the club in the summer of 2017.

In their run of seven defeats in nine, Rovers have had no trouble finding the back of the net, scoring at least twice in five of those games.

But it is at the other end where they have really struggled.

Taking a collective responsibility, Dack said: “It’s disappointing that we’re conceding goals but that’s not just the defence’s fault, it’s down to us defending as a team. We all take responsibility for that.

“We always feel as though we are going to score goals, it’s just about keeping them out at the other end.

“It’s something we’ve worked on these last couple of weeks, making sure we’re staying compact as a unit. Obviously there is no bigger test than Aston Villa, they score a lot of goals at home and we have make sure we put our skills to the test.”

Focused on looking ahead, Dack sees the final eight matches after the international break, starting with the trip to Aston Villa, as a chance to end the season on a high.

“We need to enjoy these last eight games, get as many points as we can,” he said.

“It’s about taking momentum in to next season. We don’t want to lose more games in these last eight and they can follow in to the year after.

“We want to make sure we get enough points to make sure we’re definitely safe, we are almost, and then hopefully get some wins and take that in to next season.”