TONY Mowbray admits the pre-season friendly defeat at Carlisle United heightened his belief that Rovers need to add more strength in depth.

But the Rovers boss is hopeful of concluding at least one deal ahead of this weekend’s season opener at Southend United.

Charlie Mulgrew, Darragh Lenihan and Ben Gladwin were all not risked having picked up niggles in training, while Craig Conway will miss the start of the new season with a hamstring injury.

And without them, Rovers suffered their second defeat of pre-season on Friday, going down 3-1 at Carlisle United.

But Mowbray is hopeful of additions this week, including that of a goalkeeper following the departure of Jason Steele to Sunderland.

“We are trying to add a few, hopefully some deals are quite close, a goalkeeper being one of them,” Mowbray told the Lancashire Telegraph.

“I explained last week the reasons for making that sale (Steele) to help us try and strengthen the group.

“We had four missing at Carlisle United and that left us very thin with the substitutes.

“We had a lot of kids on the bench but our intention was to try and give most of the starting XI 90 minutes.

“But it highlighted to me that without three or four senior players we do need to add some cover.”

Rovers are hopeful that Mulgrew, Lenihan and Gladwin will all be fit for the Southend trip, though Conway has already been ruled out.

Mowbray revealed last week that he is still looking to bring in up to four new players ahead of the transfer window closing next month.

Dominic Samuel got 90 minutes under his belt at Carlisle, after his arrival from Reading this summer, while Danny Graham scored for a fifth time in six pre-season friendlies.

But Mowbray is still looking to add to his strikeforce, with at least one striker expected to arrive at Ewood Park before August 31.

As well as a goalkeeper, Mowbray will also look to add cover to his backline, with Paul Caddis the only defender to have been signed so far this summer.