Charlie Mulgrew watched Fleetwood’s Carabao Cup defeat to Everton from the stands, according to Joey Barton, who admits the chances of a move are ‘up to Blackburn’.

Barton said the ball was firmly in Rovers’ court when it came to a move for Mulgrew who is into the final year of his deal at Ewood Park and last featured for the club in June.

That was the 34-year-old’s sole appearance since returning from a loan spell at Wigan Athletic, and is understood to be keen on a move to Highbury.

However, there remains an impasse on discussions, with Fleetwood only able to cover around 15 per cent of his Rovers salary owing to the League One salary cap, with the other solution requiring the club, and Mulgrew, to come to an agreement over the remaining months on his contract to free a move to the League One side.

Tony Mowbray said conversations were left that Barton would speak to the hierarchy at Fleetwood before coming back to him, admitting the Fleetwood boss was 'understanding' of the club's situation.

Barton is keen to add an experienced defender to his ranks to boost their promotion bid, with Mulgrew having played a key role in Rovers getting out of League One, scoring 14 times en route to their second-placed finish in 2017/18.

Barton said: “Charlie Mulgrew was in the stadium, so hopefully Blackburn let him go.

“He wants to come here, so hopefully we can get that done.

“That’s up to Blackburn. We’d love to do it and they don’t see him as part of their plans but it will come down to the finance. League One and League Two clubs don’t have a lot of it at this moment in time.

“I think the Championship clubs and the Premier League clubs are still not under the financial pressure that League One and League Two clubs are with the salary cap.

“We’re relying on them seeing common sense and seeing the marketplace that we’re in.

“If they don’t, then we’ll go another way. It creates opportunities for younger players.”