No sooner has one season finished than Rovers could be pressed into competitive action again as early as August 29.

The new EFL campaign officially gets underway on September 12, seven-and-a-half weeks after the regular season ended with defeat for Rovers at Luton Town.

While the start date of the 2020/21 season is now a month away, the football landscape remains uncertain with the Carabao Cup and EFL Trophy to consider for the planners.

The fixture list is set to be announced next week, possibly Thursday, August 20, but Rovers could now face a league cup tie prior to their first Championship fixture.

The first round of the Carabao Cup is scheduled for the weekend of September 5, but that would clash with the first round of international fixtures of the new season.

Because of that, Championship clubs are likely to be given the option of bringing forward their Carabao Cup ties to the weekend of August 29, or play without their international stars.

All of the home nations are involved in international action on the first week of September, with Darragh Lenihan, Derrick Williams, Corry Evans and Charlie Mulgrew among those hoping to be involved for their respective countries.

Republic of Ireland travel to Bulgaria on September 3 for the start of their Nations League campaign, with their second match at home to Finland coming three days later, under new boss Stephen Kenny.

Evans will hope to have shaken off his broken toe that forced him to miss Rovers’ final eight games of last season to be a part of Northern Ireland’s fixtures, who will also be under new management after the appointment of Ian Baraclough.

Rovers first-team technical coach Damien Johnson will also be part of the Irish travelling party, afer being named in Barraclough’s backroom team, as they head to Romania on September 4 before returning to Windsor Park to host Norway on September 7.

Scotland start their Nations League campaign at home to Israel on September 4 before travelling to face Czech Republic three days later.

International fixtures are also scheduled for both October and November, on the second week of each respective month, which will bring a halt to the Championship schedule, with the final international break pencilled in for March 2021.

As for the league cup, all Premier League clubs receive a bye in the first round of the competition, as will Bournemouth and Watford who finished 18th and 19th respectively in the top flight.

Norwich, who finished bottom, will be included in the first round draw, as will the other 21 Championship sides, as well as League One and League Two clubs, with 35 first round ties in all.

Rovers will be seeded for the draw, so will come up against a League One side who finished outside the top the top nine of the division, or League Two opposition.

Rovers needed a last-gasp Joe Rothwell goal to come back from 1-0, and 2-1, to beat Oldham Athletic in the first round last year, but had an easier passage 12 months earlier as they put five goals past Carlisle United.

Their progress in the competition has been ended by Premier League opposition in each of the last two seasons, beaten 2-1 by Sheffield United last season and 3-2 by Bournemouth the previous year.

Tony Mowbray’s side are yet to announce any pre-season friendlies, which will be played behind closed doors, but the manager had expressed a desire to face Premier League opposition at Ewood Park if possible.

The scheduling of the league cup could also see many Championship clubs view the competition as a chance to get valuable match practice ahead of the new season.