Tony Mowbray doesn’t foresee a busy January transfer window Rovers as he looks to keep his current squad together.

In a little over two weeks’ time, Premier League and EFL clubs will be able to trade once again, just two-and-a-half months on from the ‘summer’ window closing, when Rovers made four deadline day signings.

Because of that, and the return of Stewart Downing the following month, Rovers aren’t expecting to do any business having reached their 25-man squad limit.

There is the potential for some of the club’s younger players to go out and further their experience on loan in the EFL, but Mowbray is keen for Rovers to resist any bids from clubs for their players.

Adam Armstrong is the most likely to be the source of interest, having scored 14 Championship goals so far, but Mowbray hopes the phone doesn’t ring for any of his players and he can instead focus on integrating his soon-to-be returning players, such as Ben Brereton, Lewis Travis and Bradley Dack, back into the squad.

“I don’t think there will be any ins unless there’s any outs. I’m not anticipating doing anything really,” Mowbray said.

“I hope that we don’t sell any of our players. If someone bids huge money for some of them it’s something that we’ll have to look at in this environment we’re living in at the moment.

“We won’t be out there spending money I’m pretty sure with the situation as it is.

“The biggest thing is getting some players back, evening our squad out a little bit, and then if the phone rings we have to make decisions on whichever players people might covet.

“My own view is that we keep this group together and we keep working and try and get through to the summer and where we get to.

“Hopefully the group gets stronger, we find more consistency of results and finish high up the season.”

Mowbray has continued to give updates on Dack’s progress throughout the latter stages of his rehabilitation as he comes towards the year anniversary of his injury against Wigan Athletic.

A hamstring strain has set him back since making his comeback in a behind closed doors game with Sheffield United last month, with the Rovers boss hopeful the 26-year-old will be able to return to first-team action in the New Year, ideally for the FA Cup tie with Doncaster on January 9.

Dack is training with the first-team squad every day to push forward his hopes for a return to action, and Mowbray said his return will be like welcoming in a new signing.

“It’s never smooth, we’ve had this for about a month, Bradley was on the cusp of coming back and he tweaked his hamstring,” he explained. 

“He’s back to the point where he’s training every day with the group and we have to up the intensity of what he’s doing.

“We will have some in-house games for him, have games where players are allowed to kick him that will quicken him up and he has to get back to being able to play at the level the first-team play at.

“We won’t put him until the team until he’s ready. He might get himself on the bench in the next week or two and then in the New Year we’ll see if he can make an impact and gradually feed him back into the group.”

While Brereton, Travis and Dack, as well as captain Elliott Bennett, look set to boost Rovers' options heading into 2021, Joe Rankin-Costello is expected to be a long-term concern, with the 21-year-old set to miss out until around February with a hamstring injury picked up against Luton Town last month.

Mowbray says hard work lies in front of the Academy graduate who had become a regular in the side in 2020, but hamstring injuries have troubled him throughout the year.