Rovers have finished their interview process - with the hope being their month-long search for a new manager is moving towards a conclusion.

Evaluations and recommendations from the second set of interviews, carried out this week, have been sent to the owners and awaiting their approval.

Should those be ratified by the owners, then Rovers would be in a position to press forward with finalising a managerial appointment and bring an end to their month-long search.

The players return for testing next week, before pre-season training starts in earnest in the week commencing June 20, with the squad due to spend time away from their Brockhall training base ahead of the first friendly at Accrington Stanley on July 9.

It has now been a month since Rovers officially confirmed the departure of Tony Mowbray, with two separate rounds of interviews held to find his successor.

In the meantime Rovers completed the first step of the restructure of their football operations with the appointment of Gregg Broughton as director of football on Wednesday, while the second round of interviews were ongoing.

Rovers haven’t commented publicly on their search for a manager since confirming the departure of Mowbray, but the hope is the search for his replacement is now in its final stages.

Carlos Carvalhal and Daniel Farke were early contenders for the job, but have since joined Al Wahda FC and Borussia Monchengladbach respectively.

Ronny Deila is said to have held talks with Rovers during their second round of interviews, but also has interest from Belgian side Standard Liege. While that deal is complex, there is a growing feeling in Belgium that deal will come to fruition.

Another Scandinavian coach, Jon Dahl Tomasson, is out of work since leaving Malmo in January and appears to be the leading contender for the role.

The 46-year-old guided Malmo to back-to-back Swedish league titles, but took the decision to leave in January after two years in charge.

Tomasson, who spent three-and-a-half years as assistant manager in the Denmark national team, emerged over the weekend as a potential contender.

And reports in his native Denmark say that Rovers have held talks with Tomasson, with the outline of a three-year deal drawn up, but nothing is yet to be finalised.

That would ring true with Rovers’ current position, with the approval of owners Venky’s needed before any further progress is made.

Interviews with at least eight candidates were held over a 10-day period last month, that number extended from an original five due to late interest in the job.

There were then at least three more candidates interviewed this week, with Rovers now seemingly closer to pushing forward with their search for Mowbray’s replacement.

However, the appointment of only the club’s second-ever manager from outside the UK and Ireland could bring with it work permit issues, which may bring about a delay.

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