Tony Mowbray won’t be applying pressure to owners Venky’s, or his out-of-contract players, but says the situation over the futures of key players is a difficult dilemma.

Ryan Nyambe, Darragh Lenihan and Joe Rothwell are all out of contract in the summer, while the club are also looking to extend the deal of top scorer Ben Brereton, but are yet to reach any breakthrough.

The stand-off could well run to the summer should no interest arise in January, with Rovers unable to reach the demands of the players’ representatives and arrive at a positive conclusion.

More meetings are planned next week, with the January transfer window only a matter of weeks away, and while Mowbray says he won’t ask for more from the owners who have backed him throughout his near five-year tenure, he says the only issues are financial.

“Not other than it’s ongoing. It’s a really difficult scenario for the football club,” Mowbray said when asked for an update.

“I find myself in a really tough situation because I don’t want to question, or accuse, or put pressure on the owners of this football club who have been really good to me and supported me with Dack, Brereton, Armstrong and Gallagher and all the players we’ve signed.

“I do sit there and find myself questioning, not their ambition because they want to get back to the Premier League, as we all do, but we’re living in a world where there has been a pandemic and finances are really tough.

“Yet am I right as the manager to ask ‘where are we going now?’ because it’s only about money that new contracts haven’t been signed.

“It’s because their agents want X amount of pounds and our structure and budgets don’t quite reach or stretch where they want to be.

“It would be interesting to know what the supporters think of those scenarios, does the club mortgage itself for these players and see where it takes us, or do we give them the money, forget and just get on with them but then it doesn’t go well and their careers don’t move in the right direction? That’s the dilemma.

“Or do we just let them go, they’re running out of contract, want too much money, it’s not in our budget and we’ll get some new players and move on?

“There’s the dilemma for the club and I feel for the men in suits at the club and let’s wait and see.

“I’m not trying to put pressure on them, I’m trying to make our supporters aware of the scenario. When do you stretch yourself beyond where you feel comfortable?

“When do you just think let’s go down the route that if they won’t sign for the money we can afford we’ll just get new players who will.

“I don’t know if that puts pressure on the club, or the players, that’s just the fact of where we are. So have I got an update? Not really, other than ongoing discussions.”

The trio have continued to be regulars in the team despite their contractual status, with Lenihan the current club captain, with the offers of three-and-a-half year deals, with an option, remaining on the table.

Rovers have a wage structure in place at the club which they are determined to stick to, leading to the prospect of all three, due to their age, leaving on free transfers next summer.

However, with the team riding high in the table and finances across the Championship tight following the pandemic, there is yet hope that deals can be signed.

But Mowbray understands his players’ predicament.

He added: “You could argue it’s having an impact on them now, these players are out of contract in six months, I don’t know whether their agents have deals lined up for them and clubs telling them they’ll offer them this much. If they have, good luck to them.

“I understand, I was a footballer once and know that if you’ve got a young family and kids at school, a car and mortgage you’ve got to pay for, someone has to pay for it.

“If they’re going to give you X amount more than we can offer then I can half understand that.

“But don’t forget it’s about camaraderie and you have that affinity with players and it’s just works, you enjoy coming in every day, the quality of your job feels really good, the culture of the club is good.

“You could go to another club and be ostracised, pushed out, there’s big time Charlie’s there, bigger personalities and you get suppressed.

“Sometimes it’ not just about money, it’s the environment you’re creating.”