BOSS Tony Mowbray says he is actively looking at the contract situations of his current Rovers squad as he seeks to put a long-term plan in place at Ewood Park.

Elliott Bennett became the latest senior player at the club to extend his stay at taking the tally of first-team players signed up until at least 2019 to 16.

Mowbray, who is also speaking to the club about contract extensions for players, is keen to avoid a situation where he is forced in to a rebuilding job every year having overseen 14 departures and 13 incomings in the summer.

The Rovers boss is also keen to upgrade the scouting department at Ewood to help improve the squad.

Craig Conway heads the senior players who are out of contract at the end of the summer and Mowbray admits it’s important to secure the futures of players he would like to keep at the club.

“I am talking to the club about it on a regular basis,” Mowbray said.

“We’re actively looking at recruitment departments at the moment and as I’ve always said the currency of the football club is the players that are in the building.

“If we feel that we have players in the building that we think can help this club over the next few years, whatever league we’re in, then we need to see if we can do deals where they stay.

“At the same time we need to make sure that we’re prepared for the next window and the next window and the works starts at the end of the last window on the preparation for the next one.

“That’s something I feel that as a club we need to improve on.

“From within the building you need to strengthen and keep the players that you like and try and build.

“It’s not always easy because the starting point of the players that we have got, they have been on Championship salaries, they have reduced after relegation, but it’s not an easy starting point on a re-negotiation.

“The numbers are still quite high on a few of them and it can become difficult to keep the footballers you might want because the numbers are quite high to start with so where do you take that negotiation?”

David Raya, Ryan Nyambe and Scott Wharton have all signed contract extensions so far this calendar year, while young prospects Daniel Butterworth and Joe Rankin-Costello also penned new deals.