Tony Mowbray has confirmed that Daniel Ayala has travelled with the Under-23s squad to Chelsea.

The central defender hasn’t played for four months but will make his return for Billy Barr’s tomorrow night in the Premier League 2 fixture.

The 30-year-old last took to the field in December, limping out of Rovers’ final game of 2020 at Huddersfield. That was just his ninth appearance since joining as a free agent but he will step up his return with minutes tomorrow night.

Having not had a pre-season, Ayala has featured for Barr’s side before, the 4-0 win over Leicester City in September, coming through an hour before making his first-team debut the following week against Cardiff City.

Rovers have just one more game to play after this weekend’s trip to Rotherham United, the visit of Birmingham City on the final day, and Mowbray has already outlined how there could be a spot on the bench for the Spaniard.

Mowbray reported no fresh injuries ahead of the trip to face the Millers, Ryan Nyambe fit and available despite limping out of the final stages of the win over Huddersfield Town last weekend.

That means Joe Rankin-Costello, Scott Wharton and Bradley Dack are the three long-term injured players who won’t play again this season.

On Dack, who has undergone knee ligament surgery for a second time, Mowbray said: “He’s been in today, he probably needs a haircut, but apart from that he looks alright, he was on his crutches still, which is not nice to see.

“What do you say to him?

“But he’s alright, he’s got his head around what he has to do with his programme and he's getting on with it.”