Jon Dahl Tomasson has the international break to weigh up his goalkeeping decision for when Rovers return to action at Birmingham City.

Thomas Kaminski returned to the squad for the first time in seven weeks for the FA Cup quarter final at Sheffield United after undergoing knee surgery.

In his absence, Aynsley Pears has impressed in his 11 consecutive starts, his longest run in the side since arriving at the club in 2020.

Pears will hope the gloves are his to lose given his form, and that of Rovers, but equally Kaminski has been undisputed No.1 since joining the club and had been an ever-present until his injury.

Tomasson has welcomed the competition throughout his squad, but knows the situation is more complex when it comes to his goalkeeping department.

“He had done a great job, Thomas. He’d been playing well, but so has Pears, and that’s what you want,” Tomasson said.

“You want that as a coach.

“As a human being you never want to disappoint players, but as a coach you need to.

“You can’t just give a goalkeeper 10 minutes.”

Kaminski is currently away on international duty with Belgium, which could give Pears the edge during the break.

The 30-year-old was given permission to join up with the national team by Tomasson, despite his recent injury status, and will be hoping to win his first cap for the Red Devils.

He won’t rejoin the squad until two days before the trip to Birmingham, with Rovers resuming their Championship campaign at St Andrew’s on April 1.

It was there, on January 31, that Pears started his run in the side as Kaminski picked up a knee injury in training.

He had been going through one of his most difficult spells of his time at the club, with Pears having impressed in the cup competitions.

Rovers now have a battle for the first-choice position, and an unlikely one at that given Pears was expected to leave the club on loan in January.

The 24-year-old was set to move to Portsmouth on loan, but that didn’t materialise, leaving Rovers to pull the plug on a deal to sign free agent Nikita Haikin.

The Russian was a free agent after leaving Bodo/Glimt where he has now returned after a short spell with Bristol City.

Rovers have a decision to make over Pears’ longer-term future, with his deal up next summer.

They have strengthened their goalkeeping crop this week, by agreeing a contract extension with Jordan Eastham, while Joe Hilton is set to follow suit.

Incidentally, it was against Birmingham, albeit it at Ewood, when Kaminski returned from his last injury in December 2021.

He quickly resumed his place as first-choice, despite Pears keeping consecutive clean sheets in his previous two matches.