Rovers were described by Luton Town boss Nathan Jones as ‘a good side’, with ‘a big budget’ ahead of tomorrow afternoon’s meeting.

Luton arrive at Ewood Park a point off Tony Mowbray’s men in their third season of Championship football having stayed up in 2019/20 with a final day win over Rovers at Kenilworth Road.

They cemented their second tier status with a top half finish last term, finishing three places and five points above Rovers who did come out on the right side of a 1-0 win at Ewood Park in January.

Prior to that, the Hatters had been unbeaten in their three meetings since promotion from League One, including victory at Ewood in September 2019.

Jones, in charge of the club for a second spell, is expecting a tough test against Rovers but believes Luton have gained the respect of the division after their performances last season.

He said of Rovers: “They have got a good side, a good squad, a side with a big budget with aspirations of getting promoted and it’s great that we’re competing with these teams and that shows that we’re in a decent place.

“We’re going there on their tails, we finished above them last season and it was a big milestone to finish above clubs like that because it shows we’re a very good Championship side and people cast us as that and we’ve proven to be that.”

Jones hopes to welcome back defender Sonny Bradley into the fold after suffered the after-effects of Covid.