Rovers are looking to press on with new signings, with central midfield one area in need of strengthening, amid links to Pelly Ruddock.

Tony Mowbray has revealed Rovers have been slow off the mark this summer because of the embargo they have been previously been working under, yet to replace any of the 11 players that have departed since the end of the season.

Rovers have been trying to line up targets, but being forced to play the waiting game to see their embargo removed has seen them miss out on targets, with the 27-year-old the latest player to be linked.

Free agents and loans are market Rovers will look to utilise this summer, Ruddock currently without a club as the offer of a new deal from Luton Town remains unsigned.

Nathan Jones says Luton haven’t given up hope of keeping Ruddock who has played just shy of 300 games for the club since leaving West Ham United.

However, his likely availability comes as the Hatters, one of the most active Championship clubs this summer, are looking at Leicester City youngster Khanya Leshabela with a view to taking him on loan, the South African another name to have been linked with a move to Ewood Park this summer.

Able to play across the midfield position, Ruddock featured in all but two of Luton’s matches next season, with his availability having not gone unnoticed, with Middlesbrough said to be ahead of Rovers in the running for his signature.

That appears to be a running theme for the manager who described how Rovers’ inability to act in the market had seen them miss out on targets, despite having spoken with them.

Rovers will look to strengthen in midfield, an area of the pitch that looks significantly depleted from last season following the departures of Lewis Holtby, Corry Evans, Tom Trybull and Stewart Downing.

Stefan Johansen and Adam Reach are understood to be under consideration, but Rovers will now need to assess Bradley Johnson’s hamstring strain after he was forced off at AFC Fylde.

Rovers are less than four weeks away from the start of the new Championship season without having added to their squad, while the future of top scorer Adam Armstrong remains unresolved.

Although they have avoided sanction from the EFL and are now free to add to their squad, they remain one of six Championship clubs yet to make a signing in what has been a quiet window so far for second tier teams, with four (Derby County, Reading, Hull City and Cardiff City) all subject to an embargo.

The latest accounts showed a wage to turnover ratio of close to 190 per cent, following a salary rise of £3.2m across the club in the year to June 2020, but Rovers have cut their squad size significantly since last season.

Five loan players have all returned to their club, while long-serving quartet Charlie Mulgrew, Elliott Bennett, Amari’i Bell and Corry Evans joined Amari’i Bell and Stewart Downing in leaving the club.

Agreeing new deals with senior players has proved difficult, with Ryan Nyambe, Darragh Lenihan, Joe Rothwell, Ben Brereton and Armstrong among the players heading into the final year of their contracts.