Ben Gladwin will pull on a Rovers shirt for the first time in two years this week as he continues his long journey back from a series of injuries.

Gladwin is set to play 45 minutes in Rovers’ Premier League Cup game with Burnley at Ewood Park on Friday lunchtime, more than two years since his last appearance for the club.

The 27-year-old’s injury problems started in November 2017, before a set-back with his knee saw him ruled out of the rest of the League One promotion campaign. He was part of last summer’s travelling party to Austria before enduring another injury hit season in 2018/19.

Despite being out of contract in the summer, Mowbray opted to hand the attacking midfielder a short-term deal in a bid to prove his fitness by undergoing his latest rehabilitation at Brockhall.

He has trained with the first-team squad of late, but will be given an opportunity to boost his fitness with minutes for the Under-23s before a decision is taken on his longer-term future towards the end of the calendar year.

The midfielder signed for Rovers in the summer of 2017, but is yet to start a league game for the club, with six of his 11 appearances coming in the cup competitions. That included featuring against Burnley when the sides met in the EFL Cup in August 2017.

“Ben Gladwin is going to come back in for his first 45 minutes,” Barr said, looking ahead to Friday’s game.

“I think the lads deserve a chance to play on Ewood after that if I’m honest.

“The gaffer will speak to us on Thursday morning and let us know (about any other senior players featuring).

“It’s a local derby on our home patch. We’ll get back to work, make sure the aches and pains from the last two games are eradicated and do some work on Burnley.”

Rovers are currently top of their Premier League group, with two wins from two after overcoming Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough.

A win would move them to the brink of qualifying for the knockout stages for the third successive year, with still another round of games to go.

Rovers Under-23s faced Burnley in the Lancashire Senior Cup final in May, coming out 2-0 winners. They also won both games when the sides met in this competition back in 2017/18.