Profit and sustainability will be ‘one of the hot topics’ at this week’s EFL meeting – something Rovers ‘have to keep an eye on’, according to Steve Waggott.

Birmingham were hit with a nine point penalty in March for breaking financial rules, while Middlesbrough owner Steve Gibson has been a critic of the spending of Derby County and Aston Villa this season.

Rovers lost £17m for the financial year to June 2017, with EFL clubs needing to accrue losses of no more than £39m in the last three financial years to stay within the guidelines.

Player sales in previous seasons have helped keep Rovers within the financial parameters, with the departures of Grant Hanley and Shane Duffy in 2016 offering something of a buffer for the accounts covering the 2018/19 season.

Financial spending is on the agenda for the week-long meeting in Portugal, of which chief executive Waggott will attend.

Of Rovers’ current position, Waggott told the Lancashire Telegraph: “We’re going to have to keep an eye on it.

“Without selling players, and with a benefactor model, we have to make sure we stay around the £39m losses mark for three years.

“A couple of years ago we sold Grant Hanley and Shane Duffy in the same summer so the losses were brought right down which will give us a bit of a buffer zone.

“But everyone is acutely aware of the process.”

Rovers recorded losses of £1.5m in the year to June 2016 – helped by player sales of £16.4m following the departures of Jordan Rhodes, Rudy Gestede and Josh King.

In the year to June 2017, losses rose to £3.8m, but again aided by player sales of around £10m, with Hanley and Duffy moving to Newcastle and Brighton respectively, while Ben Marshall moved to Wolves in January 2017.

However, Rovers haven’t received any transfer fees since Jason Steele moved to Sunderland in June 2017, as well as receiving compensation for the deal which took Connor Mahoney to Bournemouth in the same summer.

Last month, it was reported Boro owner Gibson would take legal action against Derby for allegedly breaking EFL profitability and sustainability rules before Rams owner Mel Morris hit back, accusing Gibson of hypocrisy.

Waggott said some club have been ‘creative’ with how they have managed their figures, but notes everything is being done within current EFL rules.

He added: “There have been numerous discussions of how people are counting their figures back to profit and sustainability.

“Some are being creative with how they go about it, staying within the EFL rules of course. At the last Championship meeting we had a big presentation about it because it’s been well broadcast and heralded that some clubs are buying their stadiums and offsetting different losses against the permissible development.

“People are working within the rules as they presently are.

“We’re off to Portugal for an EFL meeting and it will be one of the hot topics.”