Jon Dahl Tomasson has revealed Lewis Travis twice asked to leave Blackburn Rovers ahead of his impending move to Ipswich Town.

The Lancashire Telegraph revealed that the club captain is set to join the Tractor Boys on loan. That deal is expected to be confirmed on Friday.

The Rovers head coach has bemoaned a lack of experience in the squad and therefore allowing a player with 200 league appearances to depart has confused supporters.

Tomasson explained Travis asked to leave in the summer and then in October. He insisted there has been no fallout between the pair but explained a lack of game time and a desire to play holding midfield meant the 26-year-old wanted to go.

READ MORE: Inside Travis' Blackburn exit and relationship with JDT

"It's not official yet but he is going away," Tomasson said. "Trav came to the club in the summer and said that he wanted to go away.

"He didn't succeed in the summer and then he came back in October and said he wanted to go away. The reason are that he wanted to play every week in position six, defensive midfield.

"Tronstad has done really, really well. I have absolutely no problem with Trav, he is a great lad. This is football.

"When a player wants to go away like that, that's the dynamic of football. He now has the opportunity to play at another club for a couple of months. Hopefully, he does really, really well.

"It also creates the opportunity for us as a club. His wages are one of the highest in the squad which gives us the opportunity to get other players in.

"I expected this could happen, it's a player who wanted to go away twice because he wants to play in one position. We have to respect that.

"I did not fall out with him, absolutely not. I think he's a good lad, we can take that rumour out. I had a good relationship with him.

"This is football, players come and go. That's part of the game. He played a lot for me over all the months, 18 months.

"Experience is always important, we know that. It's also important that a player wants to be in the building."

He added: "If you look at last summer, with everything that happened and the budget cutting, we lost so much experience and players that had played at this level.

"The club would have let him go but they didn't get the amount for him in the summer. There are a few players that went away but the money came into the club which was needed."

Tomasson admitted this is a huge month for Rovers, with more players needed to bolster the squad. Yasin Ayari has arrived on a season-long loan with more deals expected soon.

The Rovers head coach insists the recruitment team must deliver more bodies and hopes that more experience will arrive, insisting Ayari isn't a direct replacement for Travis.

"I would like to have more players in. It's a very important window for Rovers. 

"John went away and now he is back, his wages are back on the bill. The different things that happened in the summer have played a part.

"It is an extremely important window for the club. They know what I would like, I have my own wishes for every window, hopefully they can manage it now.

"We know what happened in the summer, we have our fingers crossed, me, the staff, the players and our Rovers fans.

"I hope that we will get more players in, more experience is needed. The staff and the group need a positive boost. The number of players I've asked for, hopefully, we can get it because we haven't yet.

"Ayari has played minutes here but he is not a total replacement. We are also losing James Hill. We lost Daniel Ayala and Ash Phillips, one came in and he's also going."