Aberdeen have admitted defeat in their quest to keep hold of Rovers target Ryan Hedges.

A bid for Hedges, in the region of £500,000, was turned down in August by the Dons who have since tried to extend the contract of the Wales international.

With no breakthrough, Rovers have instead looked into the prospect of a pre-contract agreement, with the forward free to talk to clubs in January in anticipation of a summer move.

Aberdeen boss Stephen Glass questioned whether Rovers would move elsewhere given their current league position, but confirmed that contract talks with Hedges hadn’t progressed as the club had hoped with his deal to expire in the summer.

He said: "He’s not signed a contract and he’s going to be available in January on a pre-contract elsewhere.

“It doesn’t look like he’s going to sign a new contract. We’d love him to.

“The club has made him a brilliant offer, but it doesn’t look like he’s going to sign it, which is his right.

“All the chat is about Blackburn and they might be looking at players who can help get them promotion with the way they’re playing.

"Time will tell if they see Ryan as that type of player.

“I don’t think there’s going to be any clarity until he either signs a contract or signs elsewhere.

“That’s the issue when players are running their contracts down and it’s taken a while to get to this area.

“The clarity comes when he tells us one way or the other. I know which one I’d prefer but I don’t know which one is more likely.”

A pre-contract deal would see Hedges join Rovers next summer and continue playing for Aberdeen until the end of his current deal.

Hedges missed the early weeks of the season through injury but has been back in the side of late and scored in the recent 2-0 win over Livingston.

The 26-year-old, who operates on either flank joined Aberdeen in June 2019 from Barnsley and has scored 16 times and contributed the same number of assists in 81 games.

He has been capped three times by Wales.