Five games to go, and four weeks left, until the Rovers review begins in earnest of just what saw a campaign which offered so much promise fizzle out into one that threatened to become a relegation battle.

The statistics have been poured over to such an extent that they have become engrained, and Rovers face a crossroads of where they want to go next as a club.

The first and most important issue, more pressing than anything concerning the coaching or playing staff, is the safeguarding of the club’s future. Rovers have been placed under what could be described as a soft transfer embargo. To avoid that becoming a fully-fledged one, they must supply their accounts to Companies House by June 30, and avoid breaking spending limits within the EFL’s Profit and Sustainability Rules.

It is usually a pretty close run thing for Rovers, not least in the financial climate of a global pandemic, but being free of any possible financial sanctions has to be the first objective. While in any year that is critical, one in which Rovers will likely see a bigger turnover of players than usual, it’s even more vital.

Touching on the contractual situation, Tony Mowbray has outlined that Rovers aren’t in the contract crisis that having 11 players whose deals end this summer would suggest, owing to the number of options in those contracts that the club can simply kick in.

Though having to do that doesn’t instil much faith, either for the player, or in the club, and those must be seen as a last resort. Some clarification of that would go a long way to easing the concerns of supporters.

As for Mowbray himself, he will be coming into the final year of his deal, and while a similar situation will likely see Adam Armstrong move on, what the future holds for the manager will likely have little to do with his contract.

When he signed a new deal in November 2018 through to 2022 it was a long-term show of faith from the owners, but the backing, both financial and by keeping him in situ through the losing runs, is the biggest indicator of that support that has seen Mowbray rarely want for anything.

However, it is understood that while there remains a feeling that things will be looked at, and addressed, in all departments this summer, and a vision of where the club wants to go, the run of form hasn’t gone unnoticed within the ownership and their inner circle.

It is unusual for a side that isn’t in the midst of a relegation battle to change their manager with so few games to go, even with the run Rovers are on. With 47 points, 25 of which were picked up in the opening 16 games, and four teams below them and the relegation zone, it will take something special from those below them to drag them into deeper waters.

There is too the view that how many managers, out of work or otherwise, would want to come into a situation where a team is out of form, and only a matter of weeks left of the season? They would see it as a hiding to nothing.

And any hopes of assessing a squad before next season seems somewhat futile given five of the players, all regulars in the squad, will return to their parent clubs, and several other senior figures are out of contract.

Mowbray himself, in the wake of the 2-2 draw at Cardiff City, raised the issue of summer talks with Venky’s in his post-match interview with the club website.

He said: “I’ll repeat myself. I like this group of lads and I think that there are some really talented boys in our squad. Let’s see where we go. Obviously, this season has nearly finished, but I’d like to see us win a few games before we put it to bed.

“That will allow us to have a long chat in the summer with the owners about what’s going to happen, and it’ll allow me to know what the owners and the board are thinking. We’ll see where we go and what happens between now and next season.”

Before next season, Rovers still have five games of this season left, and still a win shy of reaching 50 points. With five teams currently below them to play, there will be plenty resting on these fixtures, and how the relegation battle is to shape-up.

Ever since a disastrous February saw Rovers fall out of play-off contention, thoughts seemed to immediately turn to next season, and the summer that lies ahead. It feels the biggest since 2017 when Mowbray steadied the ship after relegation to League One. Rovers need to find a similar direction.