A DECISION on when Bradley Dack will be fit enough to pull on a Rovers shirt again will be a collective decision, according to Tony Mowbray.

Dack is back in non-contact training, and will be for at least another week, before stepping things up next month in a bid to return to Championship action.

The 26-year-old is already weeks ahead of schedule, such is the progress he’s made since undergoing surgery at the end of 2019 after scans revealing he had suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury.

Mowbray had expected the injury to his star man to rule him out for much of 2020, but his hard work behind the scenes, including during lockdown, have put him in a position to possibly return after the October international break.

That would be a big boost for the player, and Mowbray, with Dack having scored 46 goals in 113 goals to establish himself as one of the division’s stand-out players.

The suspension of the 2019/20, and late start to this campaign, will see Dack miss substantially fewer matches than would have been expected when he suffered the injury on December 23.

Behind closed doors matches, or Under-23s fixtures, could help Dack build up his match fitness to put him in contention to return to a matchday squad.

However, Mowbray is mindful of rushing Dack back too soon, and admits the medical staff who have been monitoring his progress closely will have a big say in the timeframe of his return.

“We have to be mindful, particularly with his personality because after his first training session he’ll think he should be in the team on the Saturday,” the manager explained.

“It’s something we have to manage, whether that’s with an in-house game or we find an opposition team to come to the training ground and play a game.

“We’ll build him in, bit by bit, and it will be a collective decision when we’re able to put his name on a squad sheet at first-team level.

“He’ll be inclusive in that, the coaching staff and medical staff, no-one is here rushing Bradley Dack, but what is most important is his career and that he feels strong, ready, physically and mentally to compete at the level we want him to compete at.

“That will be the day he’s back on the teamsheet and when we all believe he’s ready.”

Dack’s return is an added excitement for supporters ahead of the new season with the attacking midfielder having been a big hit since his £750,000 switch from Gillingham in 2017.

He is in to the final year of his deal at Ewood Park, but the club do have a 12 month option to extend that to 2021, and discussions have already taken place about the possibility of a new deal.

With partner in crime Danny Graham having moved on, and Dominic Samuel also leaving at the end of his contract, Rovers will be hopeful that Dack can come back and picked up where he left off.

He reached double figures for the third consecutive season until his season was cruelly ended by injury, scoring 10 times in 24 matches.

Adam Armstrong took over the goalscoring mantle after Dack’s injury, ending as top scorer with 17, and their partnership in attack is an exciting prospect.

Before then, Dack will have to take part in full training, but simply being back on the training field has given him, and his team-mates, a big lift, Mowbray explained.

He added: “He’s still a couple of weeks away from doing everything.

“We’re keeping him out of full contact at the moment to the point where we don’t want him getting tackled.

“He’s joined in with the finishing drills and the crossing drills, he is in the possession drills, and he isn’t far away.

“He’s on the training ground, the players are feeling his intensity and his personality.

“He’s in a good place but still a few weeks away from joining in full training.”