SHANE Duffy is set to hand Blackburn Rovers a pre-season boost.

The 23-year-old centre-back has spent the past three months on the sidelines with a serious knee injury.

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But Rovers boss Gary Bowyer has confirmed he expects Duffy to be fit by the time his side return to training on June 29.

Bowyer said: “Shane is very good, he’s progressed ever so well.

“And as anybody who knows Shane will tell you, he’s s entertaining, so he’s been challenging for the medical department.

“But, in all seriousness, he’s done ever so well in his recovery and in his rehab and he’ll be good to go in pre-season.

“And once we have him back we’re looking forward to him kicking on again because I think long-term he’s going to be a fantastic player for us.”

Rovers signed Duffy for £300,000 from Everton on the final day of last summer’s transfer window.

The Republic of Ireland international swiftly established himself in Bowyer’s starting line up and scored his first goal for the club in a 2-2 draw at Millwall in November.

But after a dip in form he lost his place in the heart of the Rovers defence to Matt Kilgallon.

Duffy was restored to the side for the FA Cup clashes with Charlton Athletic, Swansea City and Derby County.

And his impressive performances helped Rovers set-up a quarter-final showdown with Liverpool.

But disaster struck when he tore his meniscus during training.

That ruled Duffy out for the rest of the season and ended any hopes he had of being called up for the Republic of Ireland’s crucial Euro 2016 qualifier with Scotland in Dublin next month.

Duffy’s Rovers team-mates, Grant Hanley and Jordan Rhodes, will play no part in the Aviva Stadium showdown either after they were left out of the Scotland squad.

Centre-back Hanley missed the final 15 matches of the season and, despite playing for the club’s U21s earlier this month, he has been deemed not fit enough by Gordon Strachan.

The Scotland boss has also overlooked Rhodes despite the striker finishing the campaign as the joint-second top scorer in the Championship.

Strachan said: “Jordan will probably feel a wee bit let down, well maybe not let down but disappointed.

“That can happen. It is not easy when you are left out.”

Rovers commercial director Dave Biggar, meanwhile, is to leave the club.

Biggar, who previously worked as general sales manager at Madison Square Garden, has landed a new job in New York.

One of his last acts at Rovers was to negotiate the club’s new multi-million pound, multi-year shirt sponsorship deal with online gaming company Dafabet.

Rovers will look to replace Biggar.