As the clock ticked towards deadline day, Barry Douglas was always confident of finding the right solution as he pondered the next stage of his career.

That came in the form of Rovers, as he signed a season-long loan deal at Ewood Park, but he admits that had nothing come to fruition he would have happily remained at parent club Leeds United.

Rovers secured the left back, twice a Championship winner with Leeds and Wolves, on deadline day, offering the 31-year-old the chance to play the regular football he wasn’t assured of at Elland Road.

Douglas was afforded quite the send off by Leeds, despite his lack of game-time within the last 12 months, director of football Victor Orta describing the Scot as a ‘champion on and off the field’.

Watford were another Championship club to have expressed interest in Douglas, but Rovers won the race for his signature and will look to benefit from his experiences of getting out of the division.

He said: “I was always hopeful of finding the right solution. It wasn’t just about going out there and playing, it had to be the right fit, the right club.

“Thankfully we got there in the end and I’m here now and my full focus is on helping Blackburn compete and try and achieve success.”

Douglas’ career so far highlights just how keen he has been to ensure he’s got regular football.

This is the second time in the last three summers that he has left a club on the back of helping them to promotion to the Premier League.

He was a key part of Wolves’ 3-4-3 system that saw them promoted under Nuno Espirito Santos in 2017, only to move on as they embarked on life back in the top flight.

Marcelo Bielsa came calling, fresh after taking over at Leeds, and while it took the Whites two years to secure promotion, Douglas is back in the Championship once again, this time with Rovers.

That’s despite Leeds having not forced him out, the club happy to keep him around, albeit with the caveat that his game-time would be restricted.

“Football is a short career, I’d never rest on my laurels. I could have stayed at Leeds, I was wanted to stay and compete for a place, but I wasn’t guaranteed football,” he explained.

“I felt the onus was on me to make that decision and that’s the way that I approach things.

“I don’t want to be comfortable, I want to go and challenge myself and that’s how I address things.”

Evidence of Douglas’ willingness to make moves at crucial times also comes in the fact that he has also played in both Turkey and Poland.

His career started off on a traditional path, turning professional at Queen’s Park, despite playing much of his youth football for Livingston.

He made the move from the third tier of Scottish football to Dundee United where he spent three years, before another left back, Andy Robertson, made the switch from Queen’s Park to Tannadice.

At the same time Douglas was formalising his move to Polish side Lech Poznan in 2013 where he would play 75 times and chalking up an impressive 21 assists.

He helped Lech to the Polish league title in 2014/15 and the Polish Cup the following season.

But he was soon on the move again, this time to Konyaspor in Turkey where he was part of the side that won the Turkish cup.

A first taste of the English game arrived with Wolves in 2017, playing 39 times as they romped their way to promotion, earning him a £3m move to Leeds in the summer of 2018.

On his experiences of playing in Poland Turkey Douglas said: “It was different footballing philosophies and cultures. Fans are a lot more demanding over there, very passionate country with their football.

“Playing under those circumstances allowed me to deal with the pressure moments of needing to produce in every single game.”