Rovers have omitted Scott Wharton, as expected, from their 25-man squad submitted to the EFL.

Wharton will miss at least the remainder of the season with an Achilles injury sustained in the 2-2 draw at Brentford in what was a fifth start in six matches.

The 23-year-old had built up experience during three seasons out on loan but was taking his chance in the Rovers first-team before injury struck, with Wharton now set to miss much of 2021.

He has therefore been left out of the squad list Rovers submitted to the EFL for the remainder of the season.

Rovers have added Jarrad Branthwaite and Taylor Harwood-Bellis to the squad, submitted after the January transfer window closed, following their moves from Everton and Manchester City respectively.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Players under 21 by December 2019 don’t count towards the 25-man limit, though the same exclusions don’t apply for loan players meaning Branthwaite and Harwood-Bellis and Harvey Elliott are all included.

However, Ben Brereton, John Buckley, Tyrhys Dolan and Joe Rankin-Costello, regulars in the first-team squad, don’t count towards the limit because of their age.

Harry Chapman has also been cut from the squad after his loan move to Shrewsbury, however, Brad Lyons and Tyler Magloire are included, despite their deadline day switches to Morecambe and Motherwell respectively.

The squad otherwise remains unchanged.

Harwood-Bellis became the 32nd player to be used by Rovers this season when coming off the bench at QPR to make his debut.

That is already more than Rovers used in the whole of last season, with only Huddersfield Town (34) and Derby County (35) having used more.