June is here, the start of pre-season is only a few weeks away and the transfer window officially opens in nine days.

Blackburn Rovers already had Niall Ennis through the door this time last year, becoming their first piece of summer recruitment before the end of May.

With plenty happening behind the scenes at Ewood Park, the transfer activity has been slower this time around. Most of the players are still on their holidays, with the upcoming European Championships bound to impact the window too.

To mark the start of June, we will be bringing you 'Summer Scouting', an in-depth audit of the Blackburn Rovers squad.

Every day this week, we will be taking you through a different department of the team, looking at their individual situations this summer and assessing where John Eustace needs to strengthen his squad.

We'll even throw in a few suggestions of potential names they could look at, just for fun!

Today, we kick things off with the goalkeepers.

Aynsley Pears

Pears started and ended the season as Blackburn Rovers' undisputed number one. The question is whether that will be the case under Eustace come the start of August.

The 26-year-old signed a long-term contract with Rovers last summer, which meant Thomas Kaminski was always likely to leave. The situation had come to a head and both goalkeepers couldn't stay with desires of being first-choice.

Pears' season was mixed. He had some terrific games where he looked every inch a Championship number one.

Particularly towards the end of the season, games against Leeds United and Leicester City stood out. He made match-winning saves, his handling was assured and he controlled his 18-yard box. His finger-tip stop to deny Harry Winks on the final day was as valuable as Sam Szmodics' goals. 

However, there were undoubtedly moments where Pears did not cover himself in glory. Prior to his three-month injury lay-off, pressure was building on the goalkeeper. His errors at Portman Road stood out, particularly, and supporters were questioning whether a change between the sticks was necessary.

When he returned, Pears was far better but there were still some mistakes at the end of the campaign. He will feel he should have done better for Connor Chaplin's decisive strike at Ewood Park, another Ipswich game, and the freak goal against Sheffield Wednesday does not need raking over again.

Looking at his underlying numbers, Pears finished the season with a goal-prevented figure of -1.4, as per Fbref. This takes the expected goals of the shots he faced minus the goals he actually conceded. So in summary, he conceded just under a goal and a half more than you'd have anticipated. That ranks 13th lowest out of Championship goalkeeper to play at least 900 minutes last season.

Pears is a popular member of the squad and is viewed as a prominent voice in the dressing room. He's always had Eustace's backing and he's expected to be part of the group again next season.

Leopold Wahlstedt

It was a difficult debut season for Rovers' summer recruit, who struggled to the physicality of the Championship.

Wahlstedt got his opportunity when Pears was injured and, at the start, he looked quite promising. His short distribution was particularly suited to Jon Dahl Tomasson's desire to build from the back and his shot-stopping was good.

However, the big weakness was from crosses into the box or set-pieces. Having signed from the Norwegian top flight, Wahlstedt was not accustomed to the level of physicality in English football.

As the form of everyone around him wavered in December and into the New Year, Wahlstedt's confidence visibly dropped. He was at fault for goals against Southampton, Huddersfield, Rotherham and West Brom in quick succession and that only compounded the team's problems.

Errors started to creep into other parts of his game at that point too and when Pears was fit again, Tomasson rightly took him out of the firing line.

There is definitely potential with Wahlstedt. His shot-stopping was, on the whole, decent and his distribution impressive. He will benefit from a full pre-season and an opportunity to work with the goalkeeping coaches.

Like Pears, his goal-prevented figure was negative, at -3.3. So the data would suggest he conceded three more goals than you'd have expected, based on the quality of shots he faced.

Looking from within

Rovers don't have anyone ready to challenge either Pears or Wahlstedt from the Academy at Brockhall.

Joe Hilton spent most of the season as number three and was deputy during Pears' spell on the sidelines. He ended the season on loan at Macclesfield Town. At 24, he is approaching another pre-season where the aim for him has to be getting out to play regular football.

Jordan Eastham is in a similar boat, albeit he is two years younger. The boyhood Rovers fan spent January onwards with Hyde United, helping them to lift the Cheshire Senior Cup. Another loan move would make sense for him.

Nick Michalski is an exciting young goalkeeper, who signed his first professional contract in March. He has been training with the senior group and was named on the bench against Plymouth and Millwall this season. Whilst he's not ready for the first-team picture yet, he is one to keep an eye on over the next few years.

Do Blackburn Rovers need to sign a goalkeeper?

If you did a survey of every Ewood Park Season Ticket Holder, the answer would be yes. I would also agree.

I think that a loan within the EFL would make sense for Wahlstedt. He needs to play regular games and continue his development in English football and he can't do that on the Rovers bench. I still believe he has some potential but needs experience in dealing with the rigours of the English game on a week-to-week basis.

So Pears needs some competition if that is the case. I would like to see Rovers get another goalkeeper who can genuinely challenge him for the number one shirt.

Who could they sign?

I think a loan addition would make a lot of sense. Whether that is an up-and-coming goalkeeper or someone who needs a fresh challenge at another club.

Daniel Iversen finished last season on loan at Stoke City. He won't be returning there as they have signed Viktor Johanson, who I think every Championship club would have liked.

He has connections to the area, having previously been on loan at Preston North End and seemingly doesn't have a future at Leicester City.

Whether the goalkeeper would be prepared to go on loan, is another matter. At the age of 26, he might want a permanent move and a fresh chapter in his career.

James Beadle would be an up-and-coming option. He spent the first half of last season at Oxford United before ending the campaign at Sheffield Wednesday, on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion.

The Seagulls have Carl Rushworth too, another exciting young goalkeeper, who is probably 12 months ahead of Beadle in his development. So another season away in the Championship seems very likely.

Rovers have a good relationship with Brighton after the loans of Jan Paul van Hecke, Andrew Moran and Yasin Ayari. The only potential issue could be Brighton wanting assurances over playing time.

John Ruddy was linked earlier in the summer as an experienced option, who has worked with Eustace before. He is out of contract but has been offered a new deal by Birmingham City.

At the time of the reports, Ruddy was not being considered by Rovers. We've not heard anything to suggest that's changed but stranger things have happened.