Having missed more than a year of football through injury Dominic Samuel wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to feature in Rovers’ final nine games.

Samuel is one of Rovers’ senior players out of contract this summer but has agreed an extension through to the end of the 2019/20 campaign.

He has featured off the bench in Rovers’ two matches since the re-start and has looked ‘super fit’ in training according to manager Tony Mowbray.

Samuel built up his fitness with outings for the Under-23s earlier this season, but has now featured in nine of Rovers’ last 10 matches.

And he’s hoping that by staying on at Rovers, he can help the club achieve their play-off goal.

He said: “It was quite an easy decision, it’s a great bunch of lads, and we are in around the play-offs.

“That’s something I want to be a part of and help the team get promoted, if that’s the end goal.

“As a footballer you always want to reach high levels, say you’ve done this and that with your career, and I feel this is a great opportunity to play in the team and push towards promotion.

“We’ve got a great squad, under a great manager and playing good football so it was an easy decision for me to stay.”

Tony Mowbray admitted the financial uncertainty surrounding the game given the impact of Covid-19, and a lack of a budget for next season, meant no promises could be made to his out of contract players about the prospect of an extension beyond next month.

But Samuel, signed from Reading in 2017, says he’s just focusing on working hard in training to earn himself a spot in the team, not a new deal.

“As a footballer you don’t think too far ahead, just keep working hard and you never know with football,” he added.

Samuel almost had an instant impact off the bench at Wigan, going with inches of turning home an Adam Armstrong cross, while his header moments after the hosts took the lead was Rovers’ best chance of equalising.

And the 26-year-old is hoping his performances off the bench will be rewarded with a start.

“I do feel sharper, fitter. Being out for that long it does make you stronger, physically and mentally, and realise when you’re not playing football how much you’re missing it, so when you are, you just want to take every opportunity you can.

“With this break, having a couple of months out of football, that was a great time to work on your fitness and stay on top of your strength work.

“I feel like all that stuff is paying off because I feel fitter and stronger.

“As a player you want to start in every game, but the squad we’ve got, and the players we’ve got, you have to prove yourself in training every day to try and get in the team.”