Tony Mowbray says deals fell down on deadline for reasons out of Rovers’ hands.

The manager said he went into deadline day excited by the expected business but said reasons that weren’t financial saw them break down.

Late deals also failed to materialised as Rovers failed to add a striker, having brought in four loan players in Jan Paul van Hecke, Leighton Clarkson, Ian Poveda and Reda Khadra as well as Tayo Edun on a permanent deal.

That failed to address the loss of Adam Armstrong to Southampton in a deal worth an initial £15m earlier in the window and leaves Rovers reliant on Sam Gallagher and Ben Brereton to find the necessary firepower.

“The day was full of frustration. The building had some players in ready to sign and for varying reasons, that I won’t go in to it, they didn’t happen,” Mowbray said of deadline day.

“I felt for the players, some had come a long way with a lot of bags, and it didn’t happen for them.

“Ultimately we were left frustrated. We tried to fill some spots late on in the night, and from a pretty early start that day to 11.30, 11.45 at night, it was a long day.

“It was a frustrating day because we didn’t get the late deals we were trying to pull off because the main deals we were trying to do in the day were set up to happen didn’t.

“The deals had been done, there were a few things that didn’t quite add together. I’m a football coach, I work with the team, there were some things that weren’t right and those deals didn’t get done.

“We tried to put some other deals together right at the death but we didn’t get the deals we tried to do right at the death over the line.

“It wasn’t right for our football club and we have to make those calls all the time.

“You’ve spent all day with the footballer and he’s met the management, everything is right, we sat and talked football for an hour or two, cup of tea, chatting away, and I was excited by the signing but ultimately it never happened.

“There was a real frustration from everyone’s point of view and we have to get on with it.”

Mowbray had called on the club to get deals done after the 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough on August 28, three days before the deadline.

Van Hecke and Khadra arrived from Brighton on season-long loan deals before Rovers made their move for Edun from Lincoln City for a fee in the region of £500,000.

The lack of striker however, and failing to fill the fifth loan spot, leaves Rovers short of options, not least with fitness concerns for van Hecke and Edun which will see them miss this weekend’s game with Luton, while Brereton and Hayden Carter will also be unavailable.

However, Mowbray said he didn’t feel let down having seen the work that went into the dealings behind the scenes.

He said: “I understand the process.

“(Head of Recruitment) John Park came in who I’m very close to and has been amazing, his work ethic and what he brings to a football club and the hours that guy puts in, the number of calls he makes, I felt very comfortable that all the options were there, yet ultimately, for varying reasons, they didn’t.

“Football is very difficult when you’re juggling four, five, six different options. Option four, five and six could be done now, but number one and two is what you want in your mind so you hold off and then four and five sign for someone else, but six is still there, but you still want one and two.

“Those things can happen. You wait for one or two and then six disappears and then you have one, two or three.

“For reasons other than financial, these deals didn’t happen. It was a frustrating day, a frustrating night, because I felt we were going in the right direction and the team was going to be so much stronger.

“You never know how signings are going to pan out, the bottom line is that you hope some of the lads we’ve got in the club become big stars for our football team and let’s hope Butterworth plays at the weekend and bangs in a hat-trick and everyone is talking about him. He’s got the talent, the desire, and things just have to break his way.

“It’s the same with other positions. Magloire and Carter are in the building. Magloire came on against Boro and put out the fire of their left wing-back, so he’s already played an important role, and important part, for us.

“Hayden has been very good in the games he’s played. We’ll keep rolling.

“My initial thought was those lads should go and play 30 or 40 games rather than a dozen if our experienced centre halves stay fit.

“I try and put the footballer first and the benefit for them is going to be played 30 or 40 games and coming back, like Scott Wharton did, and be ready for our team.

“That’s how I’d have preferred it, it hasn’t happened that way. I hope Lenihan and Ayala stay fit and play 40-odd matches for us but let’s wait and see.

“There was an opportunity for Tyler, he came on and really helped the team.”