Rudy Gestede admits Rovers are going through a period of “adaptation” under new boss Valerien Ismael - but is confident that performances are heading in the right direction.
Ismael’s side have taken one point from the head coach’s first five games in charge, losing their last four in the Championship.
Rovers have been consistently in and around the play-off picture this season but now find themselves five points off the top six ahead of Friday night’s clash with Middlesbrough.
When asked by The Lancashire Telegraph if the board had accepted there may be ‘teething problems’ while the squad adjusts to Ismael’s style of play, Gestede replied: “It was a discussion with him.
“Obviously, we told him that John (Eustace) did amazing work to get to the play-off with the squad, with the quality that we have. The players did an amazing job.
“John managed to get them to the play-off, it was like both of them were working very well so you don't want to change everything.
“Val came knowing that. His first few weeks were to support the squad, understand the players, but step by step to start to implement his own ideas. We knew that as a club, but it doesn't happen in one night.
“You need a bit of time, some time for the players to understand but also for Val to understand the players. But when he first joined, he had three games in the week so sometimes you don't have time to prepare for everything.
“We know that it could be the situation that the results are not going our way. But if you check our performance, they are getting better and better.
“If you know the result is going to be in our way, the 50-50 percentage is going to go for us and then the result is going to change.”
Rovers have struggled to replicate their strong form from the first half of the season over the past few months, regardless of who has been in the dugout.
“We have been, I would say in terms of results, not doing well for 19 games now,” Gestede reflected. “It's not new - we had four wins in 19 games, two under David Lowe and two with John Eustace.
“So that's not like a change overnight when Val joined us. That's something going on for a while so we need to address it the right way.
“Hopefully, we get to the play-off because that's still the aim of the football club. As I said, we've got seven games to go.
“We all push, we all support the head coach and the team to make sure they are their peak, they are the best for the rest of the season.
“But we also have to understand that it's a new head coach with a team that he doesn't know yet very well. So it's an adaptation time.”
