Rovers finance director Mike Cheston revealed season ticket sales have left a £300,000 gap in the club’s income projections.

Final figures showed Rovers had sold just over 8,600 tickets, short of the 10,000 target set by chief executive Steve Waggott who said on the eve of new season that the club ‘couldn't have done any more’ in a bid to push sales.

The club froze prices, and also introduced a £10,000 giveaway should they reach the set target. However, Cheston revealed the proposed prize draw had ‘little effect’ on sales.

Despite that, Rovers reported an increased in overall sales on the 8,500 paid season tickets for the 2018/19 season.

Within that, 1,100 had chosen not to renew their season tickets from last season, with that offset by 700 new fans purchasing season tickets, and a further 500 returning supporters.

So far this season, Rovers’ average attendance has been 13,533. The biggest crowd was the Luton Town game where 15,319 fans attended, helped by a giveaway which saw the opening of the top tier of the Blackburn End.

The crowds from the six home matches so far have been Charlton (14,184), Middlesbrough (14,012), Cardiff (13,291), Millwall (11,873), Luton Town (15,319) and Nottingham Forest (12,521).

Rovers are back in action at Ewood following the international break when they host Huddersfield Town in front of the Sky Sports cameras on Saturday, October 19 (12.30pm).

New to Ewood Park this season is the introduction of a catering supplier Sodexo who took over the contract from long-term suppliers Northcote.

Prices have risen on the concourse which has coincided with an increase in revenue generated, one described by Cheston as ‘significant’.

He pointed to the home match with Middlesbrough in August as generating between £32,000 and £33,000, up from the £26,000 from the televised game between the teams in February, although there were around 700 more fans present at the most recent meeting.