With the transfer window closing at 11pm on Friday, January 31, plenty of focus will be on incomings. But it could be a big week for four current Rovers players.

 

AMARI’I BELL

The left back position has been something of a revolving door for Rovers since the injury to Greg Cunningham in October. Four players, Amari’i Bell, Stewart Downing, Elliott Bennett and Derrick Williams have all been stationed there to cover for the Irishman’s absence.

Cunningham has since returned to parent club Cardiff, cutting short his season-long loan, while another left back option Sam Hart was allowed to join League One side Shrewsbury Town last week.

Boss Tony Mowbray identified left back as an area that Rovers would look to strengthen in the weeks after Cunningham’s season-ending injury, and it is with some surprise that in the final week of the window that hasn’t yet been addressed, particularly given the likelihood the 28-year-old would have beenrecalled this month had he been fit. 

The injury to Bradley Dack has undoubtedly changed Rovers’ transfer priorities, but a left back remains on the wishlist, and an area of longer-term concern.

Bell, in to the final six months of his contract, will be hoping that a lack of activity in his position can lead to an extended run in the side.

With Downing now preferred in midfield, the 25-year-old has started seven of Rovers’ last nine matches, and come off the bench at half-time in another.

Bell played 10 consecutive matches between August and October last season, as well as starting each of the last eight fixtures of the 2018/19 campaign, but should Rovers fail to add a left back before the deadline, the shirt will certainly be his to lose.

And with his contract up in the summer, it will give him the best possible chance to convince Mowbray that a player maligned at times, but with all the necessary attributes to be an effective full back at Championship level, can be the long-term answer.

 

HARRY CHAPMAN

The winger is another whose immediate future could well come down to Rovers’ possible recruitment in the final week of the window.

Chapman had the opportunity to leave Rovers on loan last summer, with Kilmarnock interested in taking him north of the border, but a combination of player and manager decided it would be best for the 22-year-old to stick around.

Since then he’s made four first-team appearances off the bench, three in consecutive matches over the festive period, but with Joe Rankin-Costello having burst back on the scene with an impressive cameo at Sheffield Wednesday, he may well have overtaken the former Middlesbrough man in the pecking order.

Chapman instead has become a regular for the Under-23s in the first half of the season, but with injury problems over the course of his career restricting him to just four league starts, a loan spell could well prove beneficial to help bring out the undoubted potential he has.

But whether Rovers could afford to allow him to leave without strengthening in the wide areas remains to be seen. Rovers are keen to add a right-sided attacker to their squad, with Chapman currently the only natural wide option in the squad.

Rovers hope that will change come 11pm next Friday, and could well impact on Chapman’s next move.

 

DOMINIC SAMUEL

It has been a frustrating couple of years for the striker. He burst on to the scene with five goals in the opening month of his Rovers career, but scored just three more times in the League One promotion campaign, the last of which came in an FA Cup tie with Crewe Alexandra in December 2017.

A cruciate ligament injury robbed him of 12 months of his career, returning to become a regular marksman for the Under-23s, with eight goals in his eight matches.

But he’s struggled to break back in to the first-team set-up since appearances off the bench against Luton and Nottingham Forest.

A couple of niggling injuries since haven’t helped his cause, and in to the final six months of his contract at Rovers, his time at Ewood Park looks to be coming to an end.

Samuel will want to prove his fitness and should he become a free agent in the summer, then a loan move for the final months of his campaign would certainly improve the choice of clubs he will have.

Rovers aren’t likely to stand in his way, but a right deal for club and player is yet to materialise.

 

BEN BRERETON

Just over 12 months since signing on a permanent deal, Brereton is yet to fire at Ewood Park. He has looked devoid of confidence at teams, and left out of the matchday all together on occasions.

There is loan interest in the 20-year-old, and there seems an all-round agreement that it would benefit the attacker to go and get some minutes, and hopefully goals, under his belt.

Dutch side ADO Den Haag have shown their interest, and Mowbray says he will consult Brereton on what offers are open to him, but that they must suit all parties.

However, if Brereton is to leave Rovers on loan, there seems no better time than the present.

It may well leave Rovers short of options in attack, following the injury to Bradley Dack, but even then, appearances haven’t been chalking up for Brereton.

Brereton enjoyed a good pre-season last summer, only to be hit with a knee injury in August that rules him out for three months, and it will be another big summer ahead for the former Nottingham Forest man. 

Loaning him out next season would likely be out of the question, and there would be fewer question marks over the decision should it be done now. 

There would be plenty of perceptions flying around about allowing a £6m attacker to leave on loan, but Rovers need the Brereton deal to work out.

There’s been no shortage of trying from all sides, but the solution could come in a temporary move away.