John Park says it’s full steam ahead after being unveiled as the club’s new head of recruitment.

Park replaces Stuart Harvey in the role after he left for Sunderland in April, his arrival bringing an end to a three-month search for his successor.

The Scot has twice worked with Tony Mowbray before, at Hibernian and Celtic, and is excited about the opportunity he’s been handed, his role seeing him heading up the club’s recruitment department.

Rovers are yet to add to their squad this summer with just three weeks to go until the start of the Championship season, despite 11 players having left from the squad that finished in 15th place.

A previous registration embargo had prevented them from making signings, but with that now removed, Park is looking to push forward with adding new faces to the squad.

He says work behind the scenes has been ongoing prior to his arrival, and he’s hopeful that will bring about some positive new additions.

“We have a good department here that I’ve inherited from Stuart Harvey. We have some brilliant staff here already and it’s now full steam ahead to find the players to ensure we have a competitive squad going forward.

“I’m really excited to be here at this fantastic club and I'm looking forward to helping take Rovers forward. The recruitment team have been working hard over the summer and we're hopeful that we'll come out the other end with a few good acquisitions to put in the first team.”

Rovers fielded application from almost 90 hopefuls before a shortlist was drawn up, and Park coming out as the preferred candidate.

He worked as head of Academy at Hibernian during Mowbray’s time as manager there, and was also head scout at Celtic where they worked together.

Since then Park has done consultancy work for Vancouver Whitecaps, Maccabi Haifa and most recently heading up overseas recruitment at Legia Warsaw.

But Park is delighted to be taking on the role at Rovers, his first in English football, and re-uniting with Mowbray.

“The three of us, Tony, Mark Venus and myself, we formed a great relationship during our time together at Hibernian," he added.

“It’s a relationship that’s snowballed from there and we’ve enjoyed each other’s footballing company from that day. We had a good time at Hibs and have had opportunities to collaborate together elsewhere, but it’s time to put it together again here.

“In my job, a lot comes down to the trust you have with the manager and the staff.”