Bordeaux have outlined that Josh Maja is still waiting to make his return to first-team training.

A deadline day deal to Rovers fell through because of a back issue that continues to sideline the striker.

Maja travelled to Rovers ahead of deadline day in a bid to complete a season-long loan move, only for that to fall through on the verge of completion because of a back problem from which the 22-year-old is still recovering from.

Reports in France said the same issue had seen a permanent move to Nottingham Forest break down, although those are now understood to be wide of the mark, with Rovers having led the chase for Maja but on a loan basis.

The striker finished last season with Fulham in the Premier League, scoring three times, and he was made available once again by the Ligue 1 club.

However, the extent of a back injury wasn’t learned until he travelled to East Lancashire, meaning Rovers missed out on their main striking target, with Maja still not ready to make a return to action.

Chief executive Steve Waggott said the move could be revisited in January, however former Sunderland striker Maja is still to return to training, with Bordeaux having last week outlined that it will still be several weeks before he’s considered for a first-team return.

He has scored 11 times, and added three assists, in his 48 Bordeaux appearances since signing for the club in January 2019 from Sunderland for an undisclosed fee and on a contract until 2023.

That came after netting 14 goals in the first half of the season for the Black Cats in 2018/19.

Having failed to replace Adam Armstrong, who made his £15m switch to Southampton three weeks out from the deadline, Rovers have not been short of goals, scoring in all but one of their Championship fixtures to date, with Ben Brereton sitting joint-top of the division’s scoring charts with 10 goals in 11 games.

However, he looks set to be ruled out of next weekend’s visit of Coventry City because of his commitments on the international stage with Chile, while Sam Gallagher faces a fitness race owing to the hamstring injury which forced him off in the defeat to Blackpool before the international break.

That could be the first time in which the absence of a new striker will be felt for manager Tony Mowbray.

Michael Obafemi, another of Rovers’ striking targets, hasn’t had an ideal start to life with new club Swansea, after joining from Southampton for a fee in the region of £2m.

The 21-year-old Republic of Ireland international has had an injury-hit start to life at the Liberty Stadium with one start and two substitute appearances, only to sit out their most recent three fixtures.

As for missing out on a striker over the course of the summer, and Maja in particular, Waggott said: “I think we were really unlucky, I wouldn’t use the word failure, I think we had a target in mind and had worked on that player for a few weeks,” Waggott said, speaking of the club’s failed striker search last month.

“We got that player in, brought him over France, most of the fans knew as much as me in terms of who it was and why he wasn’t signed, he was the number one target for Tony to replace Adam.

“As things progressed we weren’t able to do the deal and he had to go back to Bordeaux.”

Rovers have an understanding of the difficulties with back injuries, with attacker Dan Butterworth having suffered with two separate back issues since breaking into the first-team set-up that have held back his development.