Rovers have invested heavily in their recruitment department over the last 12 months, with Tony Mowbray having helped shape the way the club identifies potential signings.

And the boss believes any possible excuses over recruitment have now been removed, with the ability to watch players, alongside their statistics, available at the click of the button.

The recruitment team, headed up by Stuart Harvey, still carry out the traditional scouting methods of travelling to matches armed with a notebook and watching players live.

But after investment from owners Venky’s, and backed by chief executive Steve Waggott, technology has also helped take the scouting of players to the next level.

“I think we’re almost there recruitment wise,” the boss explained.

“We’ve been adding these over these last few weeks, finalising things about recruitment so it should remove any excuses for me.

“Of course you can identify footballers and then you have to try and get them, and that depends a lot on your budget of course, how you’re doing, whether players want to join you.

“I think the recruitment department is about ready to run on full fuel.

“The owners have supported that, along with Steve Waggott, the investment has gone in to it because it’s a lot about software, the apps we use that make everything faster, produce data that aligns up with the visuals so we know who passes the ball the most in this league, who runs the fastest, the furthest distance.

“You can then match those statistics with your eye and look at what you need for your team to function.

“If you want to know who the fastest player is I can tell you that, and how many times he can repeat that speed. You’re using the data to align up with your visuals.

“Then you have to see whether you can get the players that you like.

“Football recruitment really is when about when you push the button.”

As ever, the success of recruitment is largely down to the finances made available, and where and how it is spent.

Rovers aren’t expecting a major overhaul of their squad when the transfer window re-opens in January, having made seven additions in the summer following promotion from League One.

Ben Brereton’s move will be made permanent when the window re-opens on January 1, while they could face decisions over Premier League loanees Harrison Reed and Kasey Palmer.

Pointing to the signing of Bradley Dack in the summer of 2017 from Gillingham, Mowbray says finance will always dictate the likelihood of identified players becoming permanent additions.

“Bradley could be a classic case,”Mowbray said of the 24-year-old who won his second League One player of the year prize last season.

“I’m sure everyone was looking at Bradley Dack, but we pushed the button before they did.

“Hopefully that has paid dividends with both his performances on the pitch and any future sale of Bradley will be a lot more than the £750,000 we paid for him.

“Footballers are available and it’s about your eye and your pocket are aligned and you can do the deals you want to do.

“Every manager in the world gets judged on his recruitment of players as those are guys that can either win or lose you football matches.”