TONY Mowbray says a new deal for Corry Evans is in the pipeline.

Evans has become a firm fixture in the Rovers midfield having put the injury problems that blighted his early years at the club.

The 28-year-old sees his current deal expire in the summer, and the Lancashire Telegraph revealed last month that preliminary discussions between the two parties had started.

And Mowbray has hinted that a deal is in the offing, should Evans’ demands fall within the club’s structure they have introduced so to avoid a high wage bill.

“That’s something we’re sorting out at the moment as we’ve done for quite a while now,” Mowbray said on the possibility of a new deal for Evans.

“The players we feel we want to move forward with we’ve re-engaged with.

“I think Corry fits in to that equation.

“Like anything they have to fit in to our structure to the means of this football.

“I would be pretty hopeful there will be something to announce on that in the next few weeks.

“But at this minute I’m happy with Corry and very impressed with him.

“I don’t judge him before the time I got here in terms of his injuries and how many games he might not have played, since I’ve been at the football club. Bar those first 15 games he’s done exceptionally well.”

Evans missed just a second Rovers game of the season against Rotherham United last weekend after serving a one match ban.

He won cap number 51 for Northern Ireland in their friendly against Republic of Ireland on Thursday, and will hope to feature again when Michael O’Neill’s side host Austria on Sunday.

Evans missed the final 15 matches of the Championship season in 2016/17 in which Mowbray took charge.

But he has started all but three of Rovers’ last 28 matches alongside Richie Smallwood in the middle of midfield.

And the Rovers boss says Evans deserves credit for becoming a mainstay of the side, having looked one of the most likely to leave following relegation to League One.

“I think huge credit to Corry,” Mowbray added.

“If I think back to when I came he didn’t play any of those 15 games in the Championship, he was unavailable for every game.

“Once he came to terms with the fact he wasn’t going to be moving on in our League One campaign he got his head down, knuckled down, as a number of the other players did, and helped us achieve the promotion.

“This year he’s helped us to continue in that same vein, very focused, takes on information exceptionally well as you would expect an international footballer would, and he’s been a real positive and someone that has been crucial to what we’ve managed to achieve so far.

“Hopefully moving far he will be crucial to more success along the way.”