We must be as competitive as we can be, says Blackburn Rovers boss Gary Bowyer

With the new £5.14billion Premier League TV deal coming into force in 2016-17 the likes of Derby County, Middlesbrough and Fulham have splashed the cash this summer.

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Rovers, in contrast, have been restricted to a quartet of free transfer signings as a result of the club’s Financial Fair Play embargo.

But Bowyer insists that will not prevent his side from attempting to improve on the eighth and ninth-placed finishes they achieved in his first two seasons in the Ewood Park hotseat.

The Rovers boss said: “In the two years we’ve had in charge we’ve spent £2.8m on seven players. If you look at the Championship now, and this close season in particular, £2.8m seems to be the starting block for one player. That just highlights what a competitive league it’s going to be.

“This time last year I said it was going to be more difficult than it’s ever been but this season it will top that easily. It’s become even more difficult with the teams that have been relegated and promoted.

“What we’ve got to do is work very hard to get out of this embargo, get a tight group together, work very hard to improve, and be as competitive as we can be. That’s the main target for us.

“If we do that then we’ll see where it takes us and you saw last season that anybody can beat anybody.

“We’ve just got to make sure we give it a right good go in every game that we play.”

Rovers, according to managing director Derek Shaw, are getting ‘nearer and nearer’ to having their embargo lifted after a summer of departures.

Fourteen players with first-team experience have left the club, including the big-earning Leon Best and Paul Robinson, as well as Rudy Gestede, Tom Cairney, Josh King, whose sales brought in more than £10m.

Bowyer said: “We didn’t want to lose any of our best players in pre-season but obviously the situation the club finds itself in, it was very difficult to try and achieve that.

“But from a positive point of view, if you look at the amount of money the club has made, it shows the progress we have made.

“Like we’ve said all along, we’ve aimed to bring in players who are young, hardworking and want to improve. That’s been achieved but unfortunately it’s also come at a price and, while we wish them all the very best, we are obviously very disappointed to have lost them.

“We are working very hard to get out of this embargo and it’s something we need to do because it’s been a very difficult summer trying to bring new additions into the squad. Currently we only have 18 established outfield players, which is difficult.

“That said it’s enabled us to have a good look at the youngsters in the squad and I’m delighted with how some of them have performed. Young Willem Tomlinson and Ryan Nyambe have been terrific and the embargo does give youth the opportunity – and I’m not afraid to blood them.

“My job is to work with them, improve them and increase their value because at some point that day may come (when they are sold).

“And if they do I’d rather have the situation we’ve had this summer when we’ve had to sell, but we’re actually generating a massive income, whereas in the past we’ve been settling up with players who have no value to us. That can’t be right and that’s not the right way to run a business.

“We want to get into the Premiership and if we achieve that, then great, but if not yet, we have to work with the players to get them into a better position, and if they do have to be sold, at least we’ll have gained something back from them.”

One of the main reasons why Rovers find themselves under embargo is their reckless summer of spending in 2012.

It is estimated that the total cost of the business the club conducted after its relegation out of the Premier League is somewhere in the region of £40m.

And Bowyer has warned fellow Championship clubs it is a risk to go down the same road.

“The rules haven’t changed, there’s only three clubs that can be promoted, but a lot of clubs in the Championship are really, really going for it,” he said.

“I know they could turn around and say that we did it three years ago but as a result of that we’re in an embargo.

“And, trust me, speaking from experience, it isn’t a particular place you want your football to be.

“Some clubs are having a real gamble and they’ve got to be careful because of the effects of the embargo.”

Bowyer admits it has been disheartening to see players who Rovers could have signed, had the club not been under an embargo, move elsewhere.

But the capture of Danny Guthrie, in particular, on the eve of tomorrow’s season opener at home to Wolves has delighted him, and he still has every faith in the players he has at his disposal.

Bowyer said: “If you look at the quality that we’ve got up top, with Jordan Rhodes, Ben Marshall, Chris Brown and Fode Koita, then there’s some firepower there for sure.

“At the other end of the field we’ve got some good young goalkeepers in Jason Steele, David Raya and Simon Eastwood, and then the rest of the squad is competitive.

“We’re excited for the season to start.”