BLACKBURN Rovers managing director Derek Shaw has declared himself pleased with the transfer business the club conducted during its first summer under an embargo.

Rovers lost three key players in the window after Rudy Gestede pushed through a move to Aston Villa, Tom Cairney was sold to Fulham, and Josh King turned down a new and improved contract to join Bournemouth.

But they managed to keep hold of Jordan Rhodes after the club’s owners Venky’s rejected a £12m bid from Championship rivals Middlesbrough for the star striker.

Rovers boss Gary Bowyer, whose side are yet to win this season, was also able to bolster his squad with five free transfers and two loan signings.

And Shaw said: “With the owners’ support we’ve tried to support the manager to the best of our ability under the circumstances that we’re working under.

“We’ve brought in not every target Gary has flagged up, but almost every target, so we’ve got to say we’re reasonably happy.

“It is difficult working under an embargo but we’ve got to be careful that it’s not said too often and that it becomes an excuse.

“We have lost three players and certainly two of them were regulars in the team.

“But we had a pretty good idea that Josh King was going to go because he didn’t show a lot of interest in extending his contract. That happens within the game; not just at Blackburn, but at many a football club.

“And it was very difficult to hang on to Rudy because he got an offer from a Premier League club with what was obviously a much greater package.

“King also went to the Premier League, so it’s very difficult to hang on to those.

“But the owners didn’t want to sell Jordan – and especially to another Championship club.

“Strikers are the most difficult players to replace and we’ve kept one of ours.

“Now we’ve got to get on with winning some games and I’m sure that’s what Gary, the coaching staff and the players will be working hard to do.

“The playing side of it is over to the football management and we’ve every confidence we’ll start picking up some wins before long.”

The sales of Gestede and Cairney, along with the compensation fee received for King, were worth around £10.5m to Rovers.

They also further reduced the wage bill with the departures of high-earning players like Paul Robinson.

And Shaw said: “Over the last two and a half years we’ve got wages down and I’m sure that will be reflected when this year’s accounts are announced.

“They will still be big losses but they won’t be on a par with what they have been. People will see we’re heading in the right direction.

“We’ve a bit of distance to go yet, because certain contracts are still being paid off, but we’re heading in the right direction.”

Rovers, however, will remain under a Financial Fair Play embargo until January at the earliest.

The Football League confirmed last month that the Ewood Park outfit had the opportunity to remove its embargo during the summer transfer window by using any funds raised from player sales to cover previous losses.

Rovers would definitely have come out of the embargo had they sold Rhodes to Middlesbrough.

As it is understood a sale of around £5m would have been enough.

Shaw said: “We’re still probably a biggish sale short of it being lifted but I can’t really give you any more details on that at this moment in time.

“But, as it stands, we’re still under an embargo.”