Tony Mowbray will welcome back Darragh Lenihan and Elliott Bennett for this afternoon’s final friendly at Blackpool as well as Corry Evans after the trio missed the midweek win at Bury.

Evans came off at half time in last weekend’s draw at Rangers and has played just 90 minutes across two pre-season games.

The central midfielder was given an extended summer break, not travelling with the squad to Austria last month, after his international commitments with Northern Ireland. But the 28-year-old will be given chance to get up to speed against the League One side.

Despite them missing the Bury win as well as the victory at Mansfield seven days earlier, given they both came through 90 minutes at Rangers, there was less of a concern over the absences of Lenihan and Bennett at Gigg Lane.

Captain Charlie Mulgrew, full back Amari’i Bell, summer signing Bradley Johnson and strikers Danny Graham and Sam Gallagher are likely those to be under consideration for extended minutes at Bloomfield Road having yet to play the full 90 minutes in any of the friendlies.

Christian Walton will also make his Rovers debut in goal.

Derrick Williams (calf) will miss the start of the season, while Sam Hart’s hamstring injury leaves just Amari’i Bell, himself only just back from an ankle problem, as the only left back option.

Joe Grayson could again be involved, which could see him come up against his dad Simon who will be in the home dug-out, while Tyler Magloire will again be part of the Rovers squad.

Rovers have so far beaten Barrow (2-1), Mansfield (3-1) and Bury (3-0) in pre-season, as well as drawn with Rangers (1-1). They have also seen off Rochdale (5-1) and Macclesfield (3-1) in behind closed doors game.

Mowbray will likely move more towards a side expected to start the Championship opener against Charlton next weekend having mixed up his sides in the friendlies so far.

The Under-23s are in action on Sunday against Southport at the club’s academy base, Brockhall, in a game which is expected to see the return to fitness of Dominic Samuel.

The club had hoped the 25-year-old striker, who has been out since last August with a knee injury, could feature in pre-season and his chance will come against the Sandgrounders.

Joe Nuttall, who has loan interest from a host of League One clubs, will also be involved, as will Harry Chapman who, like Nuttall, scored in a win at Kendal Town on Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, Rovers are still continuing to work on a deal for Manchester City defender Tosin Adarabioyo – but are not yet in a position to announce the signing.

The deal is dragging on, with Rovers having hoped to have concluded a season-long loan deal for the 21-year-old by now, but are still working towards reaching a positive conclusion.

Rovers are yet to add to their defensive ranks in pre-season and the possibility of moving for a more experienced central defender hasn’t been ruled out.