The Rovers players will play an internal game today as Jon Dahl Tomasson assesses his squad during the break.

Rovers have six players away on international duty, four of which will be hoping to feature for their countries today.

The remainder of the squad were afforded four days off at the start of the international break but will now start their preparations for next week’s Championship game at Birmingham City.

John Buckley underwent surgery on his medial knee ligament injury earlier this week that will sideline him for the remainder of the season.

Daniel Ayala is set for at least another month out with a hamstring problem that forced him off in the win over Blackpool on February 21.

The defender therefore faces a race against time to be involved in the remaining weeks of the season as does striker Jack Vale.

The 22-year-old picked up an ankle injury when featuring for the Under-21s at the start of this month and it is understood he is ‘touch and go’ to be play again in 2022/23.

Thomas Kaminski, currently away with the Belgium national team, returned to the squad at Sheffield United after six weeks out following knee surgery, while Scott Wharton missed a month of action before being back before the international break.

The hope is that Bradley Dack, who has been out since February 18 with a hamstring issue, will be able to feature in today’s game.

Those who aren’t involved in that are expected to feature for the Under-21s.

They will be looking to build on Tuesday’s Lancashire Senior Cup win when they return to league action today (1pm).

Mike Sheron’s side have found comfort in the cup competitions in 2023, reaching the last four of both the Premier League Cup and the Senior Cup, but things have been much tougher in Premier League 2.

It is now five defeats in six for Rovers who sit second bottom in the standings after last weekend’s 3-2 defeat to Liverpool.

They have lost each of their last three home matches by that scoreline, and host Arsenal today looking for improvement.

A win would take them out of the relegation places, with only six more league games remaining, and that is a target of the Under-21s boss.

“We want to stay in this league because it’s a good league to play in and you’re playing against the best young players in the country,” boss Sheron said.

“But it’s about development, we can’t ever change our mentality on that side of things, we need to develop the things that will get them in and around the first-team and we have to try and make sure they have the same energy and enthusiasm.”

Ethan Walker is again expected to continue in attack after his brace in the Senior Cup win over his former side Preston North End that took him to six goals in his last five matches.

Midfielder Harley O’Grady-Macken and attacker Zak Gilsenan could come back into the fold after a rest in midweek, while Harrison Wood is pushing for a start after his return to fitness.

Sheron could also once again include trialists Mark Chidi and Hakeem Sandeh who featured in the Senior Cup win.

Rovers Under-18s aren’t in action today, which could see some of Ryan Kidd’s squad step up to Sheron’s group.

Arsenal, under the guidance of boss Mehmet Ali, are seventh in the standings and not in the best of form themselves, with five defeats in their last six.

They did however win the reverse fixture against Rovers back in September, with Charles Sagoe Jr scoring twice in a 4-1 victory.