Rovers have been invited to participate in the Premier League International Cup this season for the first time.

Twelve Category One clubs have been invited to be involved alongside 12 other sides from across Europe.

The format will be six groups of four, made up of two English and two overseas teams.

Teams play each other once, with the six group winners, and two best runners-up, qualifying for the quarter finals.

All matches in the Premier League International Cup will be played in England, with further details to emerge once the draw has taken place.

An English side has only ever won the competition once, Manchester City back in 2014/15 which was the inaugural year.

Since then, Sunderland and Arsenal have been losing finalists, with Porto the only team to win the title twice, with Villarreal and holders Bayern Munich the other winners.

Rovers finished fifth in Premier League 2 last season after winning the Division Two title 12 months earlier. They are currently on the look-out for a new manager following Damien Johnson’s promotion to the first-team set-up and hope to have a new man in place before the new Under-23s season gets under way on Monday, August 12.

Rovers will once again compete in the Premier League Cup, having reached the last eight last season, and look to retain the Lancashire Senior Cup crown they enjoyed with victory over Burnley in May.