Lewis O'Brien has opened up on 'one of the hardest moments' in his life after his failed move to Blackburn Rovers.

The midfielder was set to sign on loan at Ewood Park in January 2023, in a deal that would've become permanent had Rovers been promoted.

At the time, the club were sat in the play-off places under Jon Dahl Tomasson and were chasing promotion to the Premier League. The deal only became an option on deadline day and, therefore, it was a race against time.

The complexity of the transfer, which included the obligation to buy upon promotion, caught Rovers cold, something former Director of Football Gregg Broughton would later take ownership of.

READ MORE: EUSTACE REVEALS SECRET BEHIND ROVERS' UNBEATEN START

O'Brien's deal wasn't submitted before the deadline and, despite an appeal from Rovers, he wasn't able to be registered. After being left out of Nottingham Forest's Premier League squad, it left him unable to play for anyone.

"It was really hard, probably one of the hardest moments I’ve gone through in my life," he told The Mirror.

"One of those times where I thought I was going to start playing regular football and possibly push for higher playoffs and maybe go up because at the time, Blackburn were third or fourth in the league and they were trying to add to it. 

"From what I got told, it was all well and good but obviously deadline day is deadline day. I signed everything, everything was done, I was happy. 

"I was at the training ground and they told me that one piece of paper hadn’t gone through but from my side, I thought it was all finished. Everything happened from there. 

"I wasn’t named in the 25-man squad to play for Forest. I looked to the MLS which brought me back to half the player I am and helped me play football again. Maybe that’s one of the reasons I looked back to the MLS this year."

O'Brien remains a Forest player but is on his third loan spell since joining, back in Major League Soccer. Having played for Middlesbrough last term, he's now at LAFC for the campaign.