PAUL Senior believes the January transfer window was ‘not a time to do major surgery’ for Blackburn Rovers, but revealed money had been made available by the club’s owners to bring in further new players.

Rovers signed Lucas Joao on loan from Sheffield Wednesday and secured the return of Marvin Emnes from Swansea while the club are awaiting a work permit decision ahead of a potential move for Celtic defender Efe Ambrose.

MORE TOP STORIES:

Senior said Rovers were ‘targeted’ in their pursuit of new signings and believes heavy investment during the winter window doesn’t guaranteed any level of success.

However, the club’s Director of Football Operations said the Rao family were willing to fund new signings had the right players become available at the right price.

But Senior said the wage demands and fees quoted by clubs and players were ‘ridiculous.'

“The investment is always there for the right player who becomes available at the right price for Blackburn Rovers,” said Senior who insisted his focus must remain on safeguarding the future of the club “It is never a case of we can’t have any money. There were resources there to spend, but it has to be on the right player and players who would come in and hit the ground running.

“I had a ridiculous amount of players made available to me during January who potentially could have done a job, but there’s always a risk.

“January is an expensive month to try and do business, and you can make a lot of mistakes if you don’t get the right players in.

“We didn’t necessarily want too much movement, in or out in January, because it’s not a time to do major surgery.

“I think January should always be a time where you fine tune and top up the core of what you have, and I think we have “So for me, part of my job is also about keeping the wrong players out of the club because it can be very easy to say yes, yes, yes, and you can end up paying for those mistakes a long time in to the future.

“One of my key roles is to make sure I safeguard the future of the club, by getting the recruitment right, but not just in terms of footballing ability, getting the right personalities in to the football club at the right prices.

“I think that we have secured some good players that will add value to the squad for the second half of the season.”

The sale of Ben Marshall to Wolves, believed to be for a fee in the region of £1.5m, took the value of player sales so far this season to almost £12m.In contrast Rovers have spent just £250,000, on left back Derrick Williams, this season.

That has left many fans feeling let down by the club’s owners as Rovers battle against relegation to League One.

“The fans care deeply about the club, are passionate about the club,” Senior said.

“But investing money in players isn’t always a solution to guarantee success.

“We brought in 12 players in the last window, some of those deals have paid off, some potentially haven’t delivered the desired outcomes.

“I’m not a fan of saying that investment and paying money for players guarantees you the best outcomes, it’s about working smartly in the market and doing the right diligence to get the right players and personalities for the football club, that’s important.

“It’s not necessarily about spending money on players, it’s about getting the right players and the right fit.

“However, I do understand the fans’ frustrations, because collectively, we all - the fans, owners, everybody - wants this club to kick forward.”