Tony Mowbray says Rovers can’t afford to let their star names run down their deals – but admits money for contract negotiations now may well come out of his summer transfer budget.

Rovers are looking to further add to their squad before the October 16 transfer deadline but are mindful too about not allowing the contracts of their key players run down.

Mowbray feels positive recruitment in the transfer window could entice players to sign new deals, with Ryan Nyambe, Joe Rankin-Costello and Bradley Dack the most pressing concerns.

However, last season’s top scorer Adam Armstrong, who has kicked off this season with five goals in three games, is arguably the club’s leading asset, while further down the pay scale, Tyrhys Dolan will be one to watch after his breakthrough onto the first-team scene.

Mowbray said: “We have a few players with maybe two years left on their deal that we need to protect the asset for the club and keep growing the assets of this football club, not to sell them, but to give us the best opportunity to get out of this division.

“We have players whose stock is growing, Dolan might be an example of that, a kid on a few hundred quid a week, what are we doing with that?

“We have to look after and protect our assets at our football club in my opinion.

“Those are conversations that we’re going to have to have at some stage. You can’t in my opinion just let the assets run down and potentially just walk away.”

Mowbray has so far brought in Thomas Kaminski and Daniel Ayala to his squad and would ideally want three more recruits to finish off his squad and add enough depth for a top six challenge.

And he believes recruitment could well be key in paving the way for some of his current crop to pen new deals by seeing the direction the club is heading.

Of last weekend’s starting line-up, Rankin-Costello, Derrick Williams, Amari’i Bell, Bradley Johnson, Lewis Holtby and Joe Rothwell are all out of contract next summer, while long-serving duo Elliott Bennett and Corry Evans also see their deals expire.

Rovers have worked hard to tie down their top talent to extended deals in recent times, but are mindful that will need to continue in a bid to secure the futures of their top assets and protect their values as best they can.

David Raya, who left to join Brentford last summer, is the only seven-figure sale of Mowbray’s time in charge, though the manager has added value to the squad during his tenure.

Asked if the money for contract extensions would come from his current transfer budget, Mowbray said: “There’s a good question. Potentially, yes.

“They’re all complications in the bigger equation and we’re fully aware about that. We’re trying to sort the team out because what I would say is that your top players don’t necessarily want to stay at a football club if you’re not signing top players, because good players want to play with good players.

“It’s important the good players feel this club is trying to progress and move on and bringing in good signings to make the team stronger and that they’re happy to be a part of that and help us go where we go this week.”