Rudy Gestede has explained the thinking behind Rovers’ transfer business in the final stages of the window.

Todd Cantwell, Owen Beck, Lewis Baker, Balazs Toth and Amario Cozier-Duberry all arrived at Ewood Park before the deadline.

The likes of Makhtar Gueye, Yuki Ohashi, Danny Batth and Andi Weimann headed to East Lancashire earlier in the window, along with the return of Kyle McFadzean.

“Obviously, we needed a keeper to challenge Pearsy (Aynsley Pears). We needed to replace Leo Wahlstedt so we are very pleased to welcome Toth,” Gestede told the club channels. “We had a few positions where we needed to add some depth.

“We lost Sammie (Szmodics), you don’t replace Sammie. You don’t replace 33 goals in a season but we are very pleased with Todd coming into the building, we think he will bring some talent and class into the team, creativity as well.

“Lewis Baker was on our radar for a while but sometimes it is not the right moment. We know what Lewis can bring on the pitch so that was a no-brainer.

“We needed a bit of youth, new talent coming into the building so that is why we went for Amario. We think he is a talented player with a very bright future, and John Eustace is well known for developing young players.

Owen Beck on the left, we needed some back up for Harry Pickering and Owen had a fantastic season at Dundee.

“We are very pleased with the players who have joined the squad and we think it is an exciting season coming up.”

It was Gestede’s first transfer window since becoming head of football operations at Rovers earlier this summer.

The 35-year-old admits it was difficult at times but is pleased with the additions made to John Eustace’s squad now that the window has slammed shut.

“It was challenging at first as we had a few people new in the building,” he explained.

“First, we had to understand what the requirement from John Eustace was and which positions we wanted to have more depth or strength.

“Once that part is done, it was about going into the market and seeing what was available for us. We used our recruitment to identity the right players for the club and for John.

“Working together, it takes a bit of time but at the end of the day, I think we are all pleased with the players we signed and the young players we were able to send on loan.

“Overall, I would say it has been a successful window.”

Rovers have made a positive start to the new campaign, taking eight points from their opening four league matches including Saturday’s 1-1 draw at fierce rivals Burnley.

When asked if Eustace was happy with the deals the club managed to get over the line, Gestede replied: “I hope so, I hope we made the team better than last year.

“We managed to sign experienced players, some with a lot of experience in the Championship. We managed to bring in players from abroad, coming from different backgrounds.

“We tried to have a good blend of players and obviously John has to be happy with the team because he is the one to manage them.

“He is the first concern, we give him a list of players we think will suit how he wants to play football and where the club wants to go going forward.

“We tried to make everyone happy and can see with the results we had in August, it seems that the recruitment is working.”