Rovers have scoured League One for potential new recruits – but haven’t bid for Peterborough winger Marcus Maddison.

The 26-year-old has long been linked with a move to Ewood Park, and had been a target in the summer of 2018 following promotion from League One, but Rovers haven’t been involved in this month’s bidding war for Maddison.

Peterborough have confirmed they have accepted a bid from Championship side Charlton Athletic for Maddison, and rejected the advances of two other clubs.

Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony has revealed the identity of one, Birmingham City, and while speculation has been rife that Rovers are another, no bid has been made.

Maddison, who has 10 goals this season, is in to the final six months of his deal at the Weston Homes Community Stadium which includes a £2.5m release clause, which the Addicks have met.

Others have been reluctant to match such an offer, with the winger available on a free transfer in the summer.

Charlton have been given permission to speak to Maddison, who has scored 62 times in 249 appearances, and will now hope to agree terms with the player.

Rovers are understood to have watched Portsmouth attacker Ronan Curtis this season, and admirers of the 23-year-old who has 11 goals this season.

Curtis’ form has been enough to earn him international honours with the Republic of Ireland and he is in to the final six months of his deal at Fratton Park.

However, although Pompey revealed last year they are shelving contract talks until the end of the season, Curtis’ deal is reported to include a 12 month option in the club’s favour.

Curtis signed for Pompey in the summer of 2018 from Derry and settled in well last season, scoring 12 times.

Kenny Jackett’s side missed out in the play-offs last season, and endured a slow start to this campaign, but an upturn in fortunes has seem them climb to seventh, only outside the top six on goal difference.

They would be reluctant to lose one of their star assets in January and Curtis is unlikely to push for a move, but does have ambitions of playing higher.

He told the Portsmouth News last month: “I’m happy to play for Pompey. I love living in the city and I love the club.

“The gaffer gave me a chance by signing me here and I’m happy to have been able to pay him back.

“I’m not worried if any transfer comes in, if I go, if I stay, contracts or whatever. I’ll just focus on myself and my own game and I’ve just got to carry it on now.

“There is no point in pushing to leave. I’ve still got the rest of this season on my contract and another year’s option.

“They (Pompey) are in no rush to sign me and I’m in no rush to leave so we will see what happens.”

Rochdale midfielder Ollie Rathbone and Gillingham full back Connor Ogilvie are other players who Rovers are thought to have tracked.

But manager Tony Mowbray has stressed that asking prices early in the window have proved out of Rovers’ reach, and incomings will be dependent on outgoings this month.

He said: “Just because you get a few injuries within the squad, it doesn’t mean that you suddenly get an extra couple of million pounds to replace them with. It doesn’t quite work like that. We’re trying to do some deals in order to improve the squad

“We have to be careful in order to get the timing of everything right because you don’t want to potentially, end up being short on players. I want to improve the squad in every transfer window, if I can.

“No football manager is going to hand over their best players for nothing.

“When you phone up early in the window, everyone’s two, three or four million pounds and you’ve got a valuation that’s nowhere near that in your mind and you’re hoping that you can entice them with different incentives or an exchange of players. 

“I’m sat in my office getting quotes of two, three, four million pounds from League One clubs for their players. So, what do you do in that situation?

“They give you a number and you say ‘no, I don’t think so’, but usually, if you wait a bit, they’ll more than likely phone you back as the window edges to its conclusion which gives you a better chance at agreeing a deal with them.

“If we did have £20m to spend, I probably would just give them the few million that they wanted and get things wrapped up quickly in order to give the new players the chance to integrate sooner into the squad, despite knowing that we’d have paid over the odds, because they’d help us get to where we want to be sooner, but that’s not the reality of the budget we have.”