Tony Mowbray says he would never offer a guarantee of playing time to any loan player as he weighs up another signing.

Jarrad Branthwaite made an assured start in the draw with Stoke after signing on loan from Everton, brought in with Scott Wharton and Derrick Williams long-term injury concerns and Daniel Ayala still three weeks away from full fitness.

That could see Rovers enter the market again for another defender before the window closes, and take the number of loanees in the squad to five, something Mowbray admits isn’t ideal.

 However, Rovers have built strong relationships with Premier League clubs for their handling of their young talents, not least Tosin Adarabioyo and Harvey Elliott within the last year.

“It’s a balance, but I never guarantee anything. A lot of clubs want guarantees that their players are coming to play and put penalty clauses and that if they don’t play it costs you a lot more money,” Mowbray told the Lancashire Telegraph.

“As a manager you can’t guarantee anyone that the player is going to play because if they come in and he’s absolutely hopeless you have to try and win football matches.

“I try and be straight with clubs, if they believe in the player and believe it’s right for them and that they’re going to benefit by hopefully coming in and playing then that’s what we do.

“But they have to perform on the pitch and Blackburn Rovers is the most important thing.

“For the young player, of course he wants to come and play, develop, and hopefully get back to the Premier League and become a regular but they have to perform at this level otherwise they won’t play.

“That’s the same message to all of these young players from all the clubs that we ask about.”

Mowbray says that stance has seen Rovers miss out on hot prospects previously.

He added: “I would have to say there’s been some pretty high profile ones that have sat in my office and I’ve talked to, some have gone on to do extraordinary things at the top end of the Premier League, yet we could have had them on loan, but I wouldn’t guarantee that they would play infront of ‘X player’ that we’ve already got and they decided to go elsewhere.

“I have my own values and standards and I stick by them.”

Rovers have enjoyed a good success rate in the loan market under Mowbray, with Adarabioyo and Harrison Reed regulars in the side when joining from Manchester City and Southampton respectively.

Both have gone onto become regulars in the Premier League, albeit not with their parent clubs, and Mowbray feels Rovers have become a good place for sides to send their young players.

“I would like to think my record with young footballers who are finding their way in the game is pretty good over the years,” Mowbray explained.

“I think these clubs can trust us with their young players that we can trust them, improve them, we do the right things as a football club.

“Ultimately, our supporters just want us to win football matches but I think the bigger clubs know we do the right things with their players, get taught the right habits and I think that’s why they’re happy for us to look after their young players for them.”

Rovers have Barry Douglas (Leeds United) and Tom Trybull (Norwich City) on their books, though at 31 and 28 respectively, arrived for regular football, rather than development.

Rovers have never had five loan players, the maximum allowed in a matchday squad, on their books at the same time under Mowbray, who would ideally prefer to have more permanent signings through the door.

However, the recent injuries in defence is what led to the Branthwaite deal, with the club previously having few plans to add this month.

“I’ve always said that I don’t want to build the club on loads of loan players, but the reality is that you can get high quality players from the Premier League,” Mowbray said.

“They have such a lot of money to spend it means that they have lots of very talented players on the cusp and fringe and they can send them out for experience.

“If you can develop trust and relationships with those clubs, as we’ve done, it can help, but I would always prefer to buy my own players and make them our own valuable assets if you can find the right ones at the right price.

“It’s much better you purchase your own players, put them in your club, build the values and hopefully make them big assets that help you achieve what you want to achieve.”