Gregg Broughton has shared more context on Rovers' efforts to sign Duncan McGuire in the January window.

The club had agreed a deal to bring in the USA international on loan with a view to making the move permanent in the summer.

The relevant paperwork was completed before the deadline but was not submitted in time due to an administration error.

The EFL reviewed the case and decided to uphold its decision to reject the transfer, which meant McGuire returned to Orlando.

“Duncan was a player our recruitment had highlighted and worked on for a long time,” Broughton told Training Ground Guru.

“We knew we were not going to have transfer fees to spend in January initially, so our initial approaches to Orlando were about him coming in on loan. At that stage, it was very clear that it was not going to happen.

“We had moved on and were focusing on other targets, and when the Adam Wharton transfer happened we thought we might be able to do something permanently.

“We agreed a deal, I think it was about £2.3million, which allowed us to initiate conversations further with the player and his representatives. Unfortunately, we were unable to then do a permanent transfer at that stage.

“He chose to come to the UK to try and negotiate a deal with another Championship club, who had agreed a transfer fee.

“At that stage, we became aware that it might be possible to do a loan with an option (to buy). The option was a slightly higher figure, it was about £3.5million.”

A year prior, Lewis O’Brien’s proposed loan move from Nottingham Forest had fallen through due to a similar situation.

“We were really disappointed we were not able to get it over the line and have Duncan in the building,” Broughton added.

“It was purely a human error that made that happen. I do not really want to go into the details of what will happen on the back of that, the board of directors know my thoughts on it.

“Trying to support the recruitment department, we cannot have it where they are working really hard for maybe three or months to secure a signing and we are unable to complete that because of an administration error - that should be the most simple part.”