Rovers will do everything they can to secure Adam Armstrong’s future but Tony Mowbray says the decision ultimately rests with the club’s top scorer.

Armstrong scored a second hat-trick of the season in the 5-2 win over Huddersfield Town and now has 25 goals this season, a tally that will only attract further interest from Premier League clubs.

The 24-year-old will move into the final year of his deal this summer, which unless he extends that beyond 2022, means the upcoming window offers Rovers’ best chance of recouping a big fee for the striker.

That would likely impact on the budget available to Mowbray to overhaul his squad, having already revealed that the finances available have been agreed, an outgoing notwithstanding, with talks set to begin with prospective targets.

Asked if Rovers still held hopes of holding onto Armstrong, Mowbray told the Lancashire Telegraph: “Let’s wait and see. Footballers are always in charge of their contractual situation, they sign the deals or they don’t.

“What I would say is that the club are trying their very, very best and trying to ensure that Adam feels wanted and part of what we’re trying to do.

“If Adam feels he wants to do something else then we won’t stop him, but while we’ve got him we’ll keep progressing, developing him and seeing where it goes.”

Armstrong ended a two month wait for a goal at Ewood when heading home the opener, and then added Rovers’ third and fifth goals after the break, also setting up a fourth for Sam Gallagher as they ran in three in the space of six minutes up to the hour.

Rovers’ top scorer signed for the club from boyhood side Newcastle United in 2018 for around £1.75m, taking a pay cut in the process when penning a four year deal.

They would like to extend that, but the financial climate makes that a difficult process, but Mowbray feels Armstrong would be well served to stay at the club.

“Adam’s situation is interesting, given how his season has panned out and it’s a wonder what valuation there is on him from other teams,” Mowbray added.

“If, in his stomach, he wants to go and play in the Premier League and he wants to do it now, we’re not really in a position, financially, to stop that.

“My advice to Adam, when I’ve been sitting down and chatting to him, would be that there’s growth for him here. He has to ask himself; ‘is he going to start in the Premier League, play all 38 games and score 20 goals in the Premier League, now?’, I would suggest, maybe not.

“My suggestion would be that he should stay here, sign a good contract, enjoy playing every week, score another 25-30 goals and keep learning the game. He’s still a young lad and it’s not as if his career is running away from him and the time’s winding down.

“He should still be wanting to play football, which is the main reason why he left Newcastle United to come here.”

Mowbray praised Armstrong’s qualities within the dressing room after his hat-trick against the Terriers having handed him the captain’s armband on occasions this season.

And the manager says he understands the position Armstrong finds himself in, having scored 41 Championship goals across the last two seasons, and with ambitions of playing in the Premier League, Rovers have fallen short of challenging for that in the last two campaigns.

But Mowbray added: “I think Adam and I have a very strong working relationship, and I think he knows that I’m only here to try and help him towards becoming the player he wants to be, in his career.

“The only advice I would give, which I’ve already told him, is that, if he was to sign a deal for us, there’d be no negative, because if the right bid comes in, we’ll sell. We’re not here to keep anybody against their will or chain you to Ewood Park. If the right bid comes in, you can go. If he knocks on my door, one day and shows me the offer and he’s keen, I will ask the owners to make that happen.”