Blackburn Rovers transfer patience wearing thinner after exposed squad imbalance

Blackburn Rovers supporters are teetering on the edge of frustration as their wait in the transfer window continues.

More than five weeks remain before the summer market closes, but Rovers have yet to make a new addition. Moussa Baradji's loan-turned-permanent is the only business that has been conducted so far.

The World Cup means deals were always likely to be delayed, yet most of their Championship peers have recruited to varying degrees. Finances are thought to be tight at Ewood Park and Tony Mowbray has openly said he wants to assess what is already in the building.

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But as the clock ticks down to Molineux, which is now three weeks away, Rovers fans will start to get twitchy if some inroads aren't made.

Rovers don't have a reputation for recruiting quickly, even during Mowbray's previous tenure. But equally, they haven't always come off the back of a season narrowly avoiding relegation.

Mowbray's interview earlier this week put words to the images that had been painted. He relayed the belief in the squad from those above him and yet highlighted the squad was weaker than that which ended last season after the exits of Sondre Tronstad, Ryan Hedges and Eiran Cashin.

Undoubtedly, Rovers are a competitive team with their best XI out. The problem is, there are too many question marks about the durability of that key core.

Beneath those, the standard is not high enough. There are too few proven performers at this level and very little evidence they have sufficient goal-scorers, which was a huge problem last season.

Pre-season is never the time to panic and results mean very little. But the fact Rovers ended Wednesday's 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest with Axel Henriksson up front (again) and Luca Houghton on the wing reflects the imbalance in the squad.

(Image: RoversTV)

"He's a young player, we needed him because of some knocks we have picked up," Mowbray said on the Academy graduate and his squad status.

"We picked up a knock in training to Jorgensen so he stepped in. It's not ideal in that first 30 minutes because you're playing without a centre-forward really.

"That's where we are at the minute with the knocks and the little tweaks we have got. Young Lucas did very well and it's a great experience for him."

Rovers are not helped by teams around them spending a bit of cash. Sides that certainly supporters would like to think they're in the same bubble as.

Stoke City, perennial bottom-half finishers, have spent a reported £8million on Ethan Galbraith. Ok, they've always had some finance behind them. In turn, Swansea have bought Elijah Just but that is reinvesting the Galbraith money.

Bristol City have spent good fees on Lorent Tolaj and Sam Greenwood, whilst also adding Jed Wallace for free. Ok, they had some money left over from January after selling Annis Mehmeti and Zak Vyner.

But when the likes of Cardiff City - reportedly in talks about a £7.8m deal for Norway talent Jens Hjerto-Dahl - and Portsmouth - having spent several million on midfielder Rocco Shein - are also splashing the cash, you have to wonder if the Championship's tide is rising.

Without wanting to sound negative and purely looking at this objectively, there is little reason to believe Rovers won't be around the similar clutch of bottom eight or so teams. The same group as Bolton, Lincoln, Cardiff, Portsmouth, Charlton et al.

Of course, they could supersede that. But apart from swapping Valerien Ismael for Tony Mowbray, it is the same - or in fact weaker - squad.

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We have seen when everyone is fit, Rovers can compete. Their best XI can compete. Even with key injuries, they were a top-half team under Michael O'Neill over a 15-game period.

But that means little over a gruelling 46-game campaign. Rovers need more firepower, depth and genuine competition. They need ins but also need outs to avoid a bloated squad and perhaps unlock some additional finance.

This is not a reaction to the Forest defeat, nor whatever comes against Strasbourg. It was a clear step up in quality which was always going to test them.

"You can feel how mobile and fast and dynamic their players are," Mowbray said.

"That's why it was such a good test for us. The vast majority of the first half, we switched off from one moment but generally it was a pretty even first half.

"The fans know you can't win every game. Especially in the heat, it was tough. They had more technical footballers than we did but I thought it was a great effort, bar that 10 minutes when they put a fresh team on and blew us away with two quick goals."

Supporters were put through the mill last season. Whilst Mowbray has belief he can bring greater time - and I'm sure the Ewood Park form can't be as poor - he is not a miracle worker.

Fans don't expect every game to end in three points but they want to see lessons being learnt from last season.

Things have to start moving next week before frustration spills over into panic.