THERE has been ‘no serious interest’ in any of Blackburn Rovers’ under contract players, boss Tony Mowbray has revealed.

And the Ewood head coach has stressed the club are not looking to let any of their first-team regulars leave ahead of the new campaign.

Rovers have so far added two new faces, Peter Whittingham and Richie Smallwood, to their ranks following 11 departures at the end of last season while Connor Mahoney will also be leaving the club after turning down a new deal.

But Mowbray doesn’t want to see any other players leave Ewood Park as he looks to build a squad capable of an immediate challenge for promotion back to the Championship.

“There has been no serious interest,” Mowbray told the Lancashire Telegraph of any bids for his players.

“I think the way the market works I get dozens of calls every hour about players.

“Sometimes it is just agents trying to create a market to make some money for themselves.

“But the message we send out has to be a strong one.”

Rovers released six players at the end of last season, all of whom are yet to find a new team, while the five loanees returned to their parent clubs.

Mahoney is set to depart after turning down the offer of a new deal with Rovers, but Mowbray hopes no-one else will depart from the club this summer.

Mowbray wanted assurances from owners Venky’s during his meeting with them in India last month that he would be able to keep the majority of his squad together following relegation last term.

And the head coach has stressed Rovers have to stand firm in the transfer market, insisting that should any bids come in, and meet the club’s valuation, then no player will be sold until a replacement is brought in.

He added: “We need to keep the squad together and if we do then we will have a very strong team for next season to try and get the results required.

“That’s the message with our under contract players.

“Obviously if bids are made then we will assess them and see if there is any value in that, but no-one will be sold until we have replaced them.”

Charlie Mulgrew has previously stated he was unsure about his future following relegation but with two years still to run on his contract, Rovers want to keep hold of the 31-year-old who impressed in his debut season at Ewood.

Darragh Lenihan was attracting interest from Championship clubs earlier in the window, but Mowbray’s decision to stay on as boss could see the Irishman also remain in East Lancashire.