Rovers will host Champions League finalists Liverpool as part of what Tony Mowbray believes will be a more balanced pre-season.

Jurgen Klopp’s side will visit Ewood Park on Thursday, July 19 (7.45pm).

They will provide the first Premier League pre-season test for Rovers since 2014, when Stoke were the visitors, and is the first Ewood friendly for two years.

Rovers hope to announce another home friendly against Premier League opposition to complete the pre-season programme.

Mowbray felt his side were not tested enough in last summer’s friendlies, which included an 8-0 win at National League North side York City.

“I think the pre-season is a balanced pre-season,” Mowbray told the Lancashire Telegraph believe the Liverpool clash was confirmed.

“There will be some fixtures that we haven’t announced yet which will test us and we will be out of possession and we’re going to have work hard on our defensive shape.

“Hopefully there will be some games where we’re going to have lots of the ball

CONTINUED: PAGE 47

and we’ll be the ones trying to break teams down.

“I felt last season we had too much of the ball in just about every game.

“We felt as if we were going to dominate every match and then the league started and then we hadn’t played a League One side, we hadn’t played a Championship side, we’d only played only League Two and non-league teams.

“This year the balance is going to be better, the team will be more ready for the season because there will be games when we don’t have any of the ball and we have to try and make life for the opposition but others where we can look to score some goals and create chances and play in their half.

“It’s about a balance.

“We still have some fixtures to announce, and I’m looking forward to pre-season already.”

Rovers preparations for life in the Championship start with a trip to Austria on June 24, though no match is planned.

The friendlies start at Hibernian on Sunday, July 8 and conclude with a trip to neighbours Accrington Stanley on Saturday, July 28.

The Liverpool game is the standout fixture on the schedule and while the World Cup could rule out a number of Reds players, Anfield boss Klopp is still likely to be able to call upon the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Gini Wijnaldum, Nabi Keita, Andrew Robertson, Fabinho and Adam Lallana.