Supporters got their first look at Harry Pickering against AFC Fylde and Tony Mowbray has been impressed with the left back’s start to life behind the scenes at Ewood Park.

Pickering signed for Rovers in January but it wasn’t until the final week of the season that he trained with the squad for the first time. He has joined in with his new team-mates during pre-season training, after being loaned back to Crewe Alexandra for the final months of the campaign, and has already made an impression on his new boss.

Mowbray believes the 22-year-old has the right quality, and temperament, to be a success at Rovers following his £650,000 switch. He remains the only new face in the squad, after a slow start to their summer transfer business, but Mowbray believes the club have a talent on their hands.

He said: “Harry Pickering, I don’t judge him on (AFC Fylde), I judge him on what I’ve seen the last few weeks.

“He’s an exceptionally talented footballer with a great personality, he fits into our group really, really well.

“I can only see positives from him and sure he’s a personality that will grow into the team.”

Rovers were happy to agree to Crewe’s loan-back request last season with both Barry Douglas and Amari’i Bell as senior options in that position.

Bell was released at the end of his contract, later signing for Luton Town, and is currently away on international duty with Jamaica at the Gold Cup.

Douglas meanwhile has returned to Lech Poznan, his loan spell at Rovers and contract at Leeds United both expiring at the end of the season.

The 31-year-old had said he would be open to a move to Rovers, but the transfer embargo ended any hope of that, with the Scot moving to the Polish side who he previously played for between 2013 and 2016.

That leaves Pickering as first-choice at left back, with no other recognised first-team option, a position that Rovers have had issues with in recent times.

That could see them enter the market for an alternative, but other positions in the squad will require strengthening first.

Joe Bennett, let go by Cardiff City in the summer, has been an option considered by Rovers, but he is currently recovering from a knee injury that has kept him out since March.

SC Freiburg left back Chima Okoroji is another player to have been offered to the club this summer, but he has since signed for second tier side SV Sandhausen.