Gregg Broughton admits the Rovers squad would benefit from more experience – but believes it is still in “a good place”.

The likes of Daniel Ayala, Thomas Kaminski and Bradley Dack all departed Ewood Park over the summer, while 28-year-old Sondre Tronstad was the most experienced player to arrive in East Lancashire.

Danny Batth was a target prior to his move to Championship rivals Norwich. The centre-back was a key figure for Sunderland last season as the Black Cats achieved a top-six finish.

Broughton says Batth’s proposed move to Ewood Park would have been a free transfer had the club managed to get it over the line.

"There was no fee, Danny Batth was a free transfer," he told The Lancashire Telegraph. "It wasn't about a fee.

"I don't really want to go into the financials on a player that isn't a Blackburn Rovers player.

“Danny is a great character and I wish him the best at Norwich City, one of my former clubs. I am sure he will be a great success there."

Niall Ennis, Arnor Sigurdsson, Leo Wahlstedt and Semir Telalovic arrived at Rovers over the summer, while Andy Moran and James Hill were brought in on loan deals from Brighton and Bournemouth respectively.

Broughton admits there was a tinge of frustration they couldn’t bring more experience into the building but still feels positive about the options available to Jon Dahl Tomasson.

"Of the seven players we have added, five of them are 23 or 24-years-old and that fits right into the demographic we are looking at," Broughton explained.

"We got two young loans in and then Sondre who is 28. That is the breakdown of who came into the building.

"I am on record saying that we wanted to replace experience going out of the squad in terms of Ayala and Dack leaving at the end of the season.

“We have been unable to replace that and that hasn't been an ideal squad design from my point of view or Jon's point of view. We are united on that.

"We had a financial framework to work within and we weren't able to bring in any of the experienced players we looked at.”

The director of football also praised the existing members of the dressing room who have stepped up into leadership roles to help fill the void left behind by the likes of Ayala and Dack over the summer.

"We have seen Sam Szmodics and Sam Gallagher step onto the leadership team,” he added.

“We've seen Dom Hyam as a quiet leader, but he is different in how he adds a voice and an opinion in the changing room.

"You see Lewis Travis over the first four or five games of this season. We are pleased with the group which isn't dramatically younger than last season. I think we are in a good place."